Newlyweds
by Hershel Greene
Summary: Post Reaper-War. Most of Shepard's scars healed when the war was over, however, one scar in particular will stay with him for the rest of his life. Shepard has lost the ability to speak, and now spends his days with Tali at their home on Rannoch, living a peaceful life together.
1. Good Morning

Shepard walked out of his bedroom door, dressed in his blue button up shirt, clasped all the way to the top and covering his neck. He had on black jeans, and a pair of black shoes. He scratched at his short and shaggy black hair, yawned, and then stretched his arms out. Being rewarded with popping sounds from his bones, he let out a gratifying sigh, and proceeded to begin walking down stairs in his household.

His house was walled with shiny white metal, exotic plants decorated the corners of every room, plants that Tali had picked out. They had colorful bulbs of flowers growing on them, blues, greens, whites, and reds. Shepard took a look behind himself, seeing their bedroom door open, and a messy inside. Clothes were flung around the room without care. Shepard smiled at the room, remembering what had taken place in it the night earlier. John took baby-steps down the stairs, feeling a pain in his leg from a wound during the Reaper-War, and clutching at it. Shepard scratched at his neck through the blue shirt collar, a rough and scaly sound coming from the scratch.

He looked around the bottom floor of their house, searching for his wife, Tali. He scanned the living room, a tan couch facing a television. He looked to their front door, a welcome mat placed at it's step. He then turned his head to their kitchen, seeing Tali fumbling over some food, not a natural cook. Shepard smiled at her, his smile hidden to her as she faced away from him. He approached the open doorway and knocked on the wall to get her attention.

She turned around to meet the intruder, but realized it was just Shepard, a look of relief coming over her as she saw him. Tali wore a long, silk, purple robe, the lace tying it closed, and loosely outlining her curved body. Shepard scanned her body from her three toed feet, to her exposed head. John winked at her, and received an eye roll from her as she turned around to continue attempting to cook. He ran his hands along the blue colored, island counter-top as he walked closer to her. He rested his hands on her hips, and moved his head closer to hers, and looking down to the eggs and bacon his wife was trying to make. John breathed a silent laugh, and traced his hands from her hips, to her arms and pulled her hands away.

She looked up at him with twinkle in her eyes and sadness, wanting to cook him something to eat, and wanting to do it on her own. He didn't want to eat crispy burnt eggs, and bacon with the texture of a brick, but he couldn't say no to a face like her's, so he let her continue cooking. He pulled his hands away from her, receiving a smile from her gray-blue face. John ran his hands through her messy, long, black hair, straightening it out slightly. He smiled down at her again, smiling for her messy black hair, hair that had an odd blue tint to it. Mrs. Shepard pushed him off gently and mumbled her usual mock-upset word. "Bosh'tet. I just woke up, it's not my fault I look ugly."

He retreated to a stool near the island counter, and sat down, tapping his hands on the counter as if he were playing a piano. Mr. Shepard continued to tap and rasp his fingers on the blue counter-top, waiting for Tali to finish his human breakfast, and then make something for herself. Shepard leaned back in his stool, examining his quarian wife Tali, tracing the curves of her body with his eyes. Tali reached to grab a cup from a cabinet, standing on her toes and fumbling her hands around for a cup. She wagged her rear back and forth as she reached for the cup, knowing Shepard could see her do it.

Shepard knew full well that she was doing it because he could see her, but he stared anyway, remembering every inch of what her body looked like without anything covering it. The black markings that traced her face, from her forehead, down to her feet, and tracing a line along her arms. Tali grabbed the cup from the top shelf, and quickly turned around to see Shepard staring lower than he should be. "See something interesting?" Tali'Zorah asked him in a mocking tone, putting her hands on her hips, and waiting for an answer.

Shepard responded with a smile and a nod. His wife finished preparing his meal of eggs and bacon, and brought it over to him with a glass of water. Shepard took it from her hands and placed the two items in front of him, letting her sit down next to him. She rested her elbows on the table, and put her head down into her hands, watching her husband begin to eat. "You know, those quarians already know how to fight well enough, you don't need to help them today. Maybe you could stay here with me a little while longer." She tempted him, looking at him with wide open eyes, and then bit her lip. "Keep me company."

He shook his head at her as he took a bite of eggs with a fork. "Fine..." Tali groaned, crossing her arms over her breasts. "Drink up John, the doctor says every bit of water will help ease the pain from your wounds." Tali said, staring lovingly at him as he drank some water. John nodded back to her, feeling a pain in his leg as she mentioned the word pain. She leaned over the corner of the table, and planted a kiss on his cheek as he drank some water, he put the glass down and smiled at her. She stood up from her stool, and walked over to the window that was placed over their sink.

She stared outside the window, the view blurred to Shepard, as the bright yellow light flooded in and almost completely hid Tali from his view. She observed the orange rocky plains and mountainous look from the window, smiling to herself, glad she can finally call a planet her own. "You ever get lonely up here?" She asked, turning around to look at Shepard. She rested her hands on the corner of the counter as she talked to him. "I mean... we clearly don't get lonely, last night proved that wrong." She said, smiling and giggling lightly to herself. "But, ever since we built this house up here, we're so far away from anyone else. You have to drive an hour just to get to work, and we have no neighbors to talk to, or anything."

Shepard shrugged his shoulders again, downing the last of his water. "No... me neither, since we're alone up here, I can be as loud as I want." She said, smiling suggestively at Shepard, who returned the stare and smile.

He finished his food, and placed his utensils and plate in the center of the table. John stood up, catching Tali's attention. "No, do you have to go now?" Tali asked, rushing over to him, and placing her hands on his chest. "I can have Auntie Raan cover for you, she can get a replacement for a day, and we can spend today doing something fun." His sweet wife pleaded, almost begging as she grasped her husbands shirt in her hands, pulling him closer to her. "Come on... please." Shepard had to work five days a week, teaching quarians how to fight. Apparently two days alone with Tali wasn't enough for her, she wanted him with her for every waking moment if at all possible.

Shepard pondered the idea, pursing his lips while looking into Tali's eyes, he knew he couldn't deny her this time. A smile grew on his face, and he nodded. Tali jumped into Shepard's arms with joy, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Yeeeeaaa! I've got some fun things planned for today! We can watch Fleet and Flotilla Two, I haven't seen it yet, it should be amazing! Then we can go exploring around our house, since no one else lives out here, we're bound to find something cool from a long time ago!" Shepard nodded his head quickly and smiled as she explained the upcoming day to him. "Then we can go see some of the old Normandy crew, and see how their doing! This is great!" Shepard moved his hands to support her on him, by holding her butt. Tali squinted her eyes at him as he moved his hand to her rear, and smiled.

He gave her another nod, still supporting her on himself by holding her butt, and her legs which were still wrapped around his waist. Shepard moved her to the table, and set her on top of it. They both smiled at each other. Shepard admired her large, slightly glowing eyes with a bigger than human sized pupil in them, and her cute and small nose. Her husband ran a hand through her hair, a blue shine on her hair, which made it very different than human hair. They took in the sights of each other's faces. She moved her hands to the blue collar of his shirt. "You won't be needing this work shirt anymore then." Mrs. Shepard said as she undid the first few buttons.

She pulled apart the top of his shirt, revealing several large scars across his neck. They were the result of a grenade blast during the Reaper-War, and they had left Shepard with an important part of him missing, the blast had claimed Shepard's ability to speak. He looked shamefully at the ground as she stared at his wound, she noticed and spoke to Shepard about it. "It doesn't matter to me Shepard, I still love you, nothing can change that, not even death." Tali said, laying her palm on his cheek, and bringing his eyes to meet hers.

He mouthed the words to her, _It matters to me._ She had gotten used to reading his lips, and wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. "Well... too bad." She said, holding her head up high, and making Shepard stare at her oddly. Did she not care about him? "I'm the most important thing in your life now Shepard, so what I say goes. So, if I say it doesn't matter, then it doesn't matter. And... if you don't say okay, then I'll bring out my old shotgun and make you." His wife said, sounding stern but also playful. "Okay?" His beloved asked him, and gave him a kiss on his lips, surprising him.

He smiled at her, and gave a sturdy nod, not wanting to risk her wrath. _Okay._ His lips read, and then smiled to her. _I love you, Tali._ She read his lips say, and returned the statement.

"I love you too, Shepard." Tali said, still holding his face in her hand, her warmth filling his face, and making him smile larger with happiness. "Now are you just going to tell me?" She asked, taking her hand away from him, and placing it in her lap with the other. "Or are you going to show me?" She asked, waiting for Shepard to take an action.

He smiled devilishly, and moved his mouth again. _Oh, I'll show you._ John moved forward to kiss her, grabbing her shoulder with a hand, and the back of her neck with another, holding her gently. John felt a pointed tongue inside his mouth, her quarian and pointed tongue. Shepard removed his hand from her shoulder and reached down to her feet, and start to lift her purple robe up. He traced his fingers up the back of her calf, making her shiver slightly as they continued to kiss. They continued their passionate kiss until it was interrupted by her own will. Tali pushed him away gently, put down her robe, and smiled at him. He looked around her, wondering why she ended his action. "Fleet and Flotilla Two, first." She commanded, smiling positively and proudly at him. He rolled his eyes at her, and received a tongue from her, a pointed red tongue aimed at him mockingly . "I get to have my fun, then you can have yours." She said, and then giggled at him. He put an arm under the bend of her knees, and around her back, carrying her bridal-style to the living room. He looked at her, with a look of near hurt in his eyes, from her earlier statement. "Okay, okay. We both have fun doing that." Tali said, nodding her head several times.

"I remember the last time you carried me like this." His wife said, looking up to him as he carried her. He thought back to their wedding night, and sighed shamefully. "You dropped me when we came into the house, remember? It was only a few months ago."

He nodded his head, his eyes closed awkwardly. _Yes, I remember._ He worded, and continued carrying her to the living room.

"We never even made it to the bed." She said, kicking her legs in the air as he held her in his arms. "It hurt at first, but we made up pretty quickly. The floor was good enough for me, I couldn't wait any longer, it's not my fault." She said, looking forward to the living room, and then back to him.

He smiled at her, and his mouth formed some more words._ You're too cute._

"I know." Was her response, as they entered the room.

He set her down gently on the tan couch, facing the television, her sprawled out form on the couch. "I bought the movie yesterday, it's over there with the rest." Tali said, pointing to a shelf, full of movies. Shepard turned around and searched for the movie, poking around the collection of movies they had. John found the one she was talking about, the sequel to the one they've watched before, _Fleet and Flotilla Two._ He mouthed to himself as he read the title. He held the movie in the air triumphantly, and walked it over to the TV, slipping it into the side of the television. Tali clapped as he walked back to the couch. "Yeah, movie time!" Tali squealed, patting a spot on the couch for Shepard to sit at.

She picked up a remote to start the movie, bouncing in her seat of the couch with happiness. _Cutest wife ever._ Shepard mouthed to himself, but Tali noticed regardless.

"I heard that!" She squealed, still bouncing lightly in her seat.

Shepard shook his head slightly, opening his eyes wide to her, and gave a questioningly look. "I can hear with my eyes." She said, trying to hide her grin from him. John nodded slowly to himself and turned his gaze back to the TV. "Now shut up, the movie's starting!" Tali squealed again, curling her legs on the couch, and bringing her hands close to her chest as she smiled to the TV. Shepard smiled to his wife, examining her for a second, before turning back to watch the movie.


	2. Fleet and Flotilla Two

Tali was balled up on the tan couch, holding her purple silk covered knees close to her chest, and her eyes staring solely on the TV screen. "That's Notus Enninis." Tali said, popping her head up from behind the hill of purple silk on her knees that she hid behind, and pointing to a Turian on the Television screen. "He's the brother of Fausvus Enninis, who loves Notus' bond-mate, Femo'Shirah vas Shidin." Tali said, moving her hands left and right as she explained a triangle of love to Shepard. "But Notus is a dirty cheating bosh'tet, who's been sleeping with Femo's Admiral." Tali finished and nodded several times in a fast motion to Shepard.

Shepard stared at her for a while, contemplating how he would react. A large smile grew on Shepard's face, two rows of pearly white teeth showing. "What?" Tali asked, sounding offended at his smile.

_I've been watching the movie too, Tali. I know what's been happening. _John worded as he fought the smile off of his face, and pointed to the TV.

"Well, I just really like it, okay." His cute wife huffed, and turned her head back to the movie.

Shepard stuck his arm out to shove her slightly in a joking way. Tali looked at him, with her nose pointed upward in a snooty way, and waiting for an apology._ I'm sorry, go ahead and have your fun, I just think it's cute is all._ John waited for her to say something, and acknowledge that she understood him.

"Apology accepted." Tali said, smiling and turning her head back to the movie. "That's Femo's friend, Mema'Junna vas Hipan." Tali said pointing to a quarian girl who wore an exosuit with a yellow cloth and hood. Shepard's smile returned, just as Tali's enthusiasm for the movie did. His wife looked to him, smiling at his own smile. "Don't you look at me in that tone of voice, mister." Tali commanded of him, taking a stern voice. It could be interpreted as an insult, but since it was coming from Tali, Shepard took it as nothing more than a harmless and loving joke.

The story being about a turian and a quarian, and how they fall in love, had brought up a peculiar thought in Shepard's head. Shepard turned his head to view his wife, her toes wiggling and her feet bouncing slightly as she rocked her body from left to right while she watched the movie. Shepard viewed his wife as the woman she was, but still loved to see the kid in her surface from time to time, thinking it cute. Tali was still afraid of spiders, still loved to watch movies from her childhood, and still giggled like a girl, all of these things Shepard loved about her. John admired her bravery in the battles they fought, her perseverance to take her planet back, and her engineering smarts and skills. Still though, he wondered if he was the only man she had her eyes on, in the times of the fight with Saren. He cleared his throat, grudgingly gaining her attention from the movie, her eyes darting back to it several times. _You and Garrus, ever... you know, before we were together... ever think of being together?_

Her head bobbed back in surprise at him. "What?" Tali asked and gave a single laugh. "Of course not, I always thought of him as a brother. But, besides, how could I when I was so busy on making myself known to you?" Mrs. Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "And I clearly made myself known to you, or else I wouldn't have this." Tali said, flashing her large gold ringed finger to him, the ring on her left hand and middle finger. "I could say the same thing about you too, ya know?" Tali said, placing her hands back in her lap. "Did you ever think about doing anything with Liara or Ashley?"

He shook his head at her. _Wasn't enough time to, since I was always thinking about doing things with you._ Shepard smiled after he gave her a satisfactory answer, which she grinned at as well.

"Good answer." Tali said, looking back to the screen and watching more of the movie. Her eyes seemed to hesitate from the screen however, and examine her own body. She blinked rapidly several times before confronting Shepard. "My breasts aren't as big as Liara's or Ashley's though." She said, placing her hands under her breasts and trying to lift them up and make them look bigger. She looked to Shepard, staring at him with a look of self-consciousness on her face, a frown even began to form.

He reacted quickly, to dispel any doubt she had if Shepard actually thought she was attractive. _Your legs, your butt, your hips, your odd numbered fingers and toes, your voice, and even your breasts._ Her husband pointed to every place he mentioned, making her examine each place slowly. _And of course, I knew you'd be pretty behind that mask of yours, so your face. Your big bright glowing eyes, cute little nose, and beautiful smile. Your black hair that shines blue, your bright red and pointed tongue. Those black markings you have that decorate your body, and even your omni-tattoo of a girl on a thresher maw coming out of a skull with a sword in her hand. _Shepard pointed to each place again, making Tali smile as she lifted up the back of her robe to see the tattoo he described on the gray skin of her lower back._ Did you get all of that?_ He worded, and placed a finger under her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his. _That and every piece of your personality is why I married you, why I love you._ She nodded to him, and blushed after receiving a barrage of compliments and praise from him.

Tali breathed in deeply before speaking to Shepard. "Your muscle, skin, height, hair, jaw, eyes, and length. Your sense of humor, honor, judgment, duty, and pride. I also like how much you care for the quarians, and our planet," his wife finished, breathing in and out deeply again, and smiling at Shepard.

_What's the difference between height and length? _John mouthed, stretching his hands vertically and then horizontally. A lusting smile on her face, as she tilted her head forward at him, staring at him seductively. Shepard understood what she meant, and he started to nod slowly._ Oh... I gotcha._

"Yes, you do got me." Tali'Zorah said, redirecting her attention to the movie, after giving his body a once over. He returned the glance, quickly skimming over every body part of her that he admired.

* * *

><p>They let the movie continue in silence, until it was nearing the end. Shepard noticed the protagonist of the story, Fausvus Enninis, who looked different from his appearance in the last movie. Shepard stuck a finger out to the screen, catching Tali's attention, as he stared and pondered the turian man.<em> Is he the same as before? <em>He asked her, slowly taking his gaze away from the new looking man.

"No, they changed actors because the other one was killed on Palavan, when the Reapers attacked it." Tali said, giving a sympathetic smile, and sounding remorseful for the old actor. Shepard looked back to the screen, wondering if there could have been a way to save him. Shepard barely moved his head in a quiet nod, and continued with the movie.

The movie was only minutes from ending, and Tali was bouncing up and down in the couch seat again, giggling to herself. Shepard smiled at her, wondering what she was waiting for. "Come on, come on, they wouldn't leave it out would they?" Tali asked herself, clutching the purple silk of her robe in her hands and using it to cover her face in denial. Shepard pondered for a moment what it was she was waiting for, and then remembered how their first movie had ended, with Tali singing along to a song from the movie.

Shepard wanted to hear Tali sing again, her beautiful voice wouldn't be distorted by her suit this time. Shepard loved Tali for her personality, her voice, her body, and literally everything else about her. Shepard didn't care what she was saying, or how she was saying it, he loved to hear the sound of her voice.

The two protagonists of the story, Fausvus Enninis and Femo'Shirah vas Shidin, were holding hands together on the top of a building. They stared lovingly at each other, and slowly moved closer to embrace in a hug. A smile grew on Tali's face, waiting for a song to start, just as it had last time. The second the two Dextros embraced, the screen cut to black, and the credits started to roll across the screen. Tali's eyes searched the screen doubtfully and her smile disappeared, she darted her hands for the remote to find the song. "We must have missed it or something. Give me just a second, and I can find it, okay?"

She mercilessly spammed a finger against the rewind button, taking the movie back to the start. Shepard would do anything for Tali, but there was no sense in watching it again, just to be disappointed and have no song be there. Shepard reached his hand out, and tapped the pause button on the remote. Tali looked up at him with quarian puppy-dog eyes, and waited for him to relent and give in to her cuteness. _You sing it._ He mouthed, pointing a finger at her. She smiled shyly, and started to blush.

"I don't know, the last time I sang to you, you laughed at me." Tali said, sounding sad.

_No I didn't, I smiled because of how cute your singing was._ John scooted closer to her, and patted a hand on her thigh. _Do it, for me?_ His mouth asked her, and then attempted to do a similar puppy-dog look. _It's not like I'm much use to you in the singing department anyway._ He hovered a hand in front of his mouth after he finished. She smiled at him, ready to sing. Tali hopped off of the couch, and stood in front of Shepard, who crossed a leg over his other as he waited for her to begin.

She cleared her throat before she began, and gave a quick smile to Shepard. She breathed in deep and looked nervous to sing to Shepard. "Let the moon's shining light hide to lovers with it's rays." She hummed, clasping her hands together in front of her stomach, and fiddling with her fingers. Shepard's smile grew, and his eyes opened wide when he heard Tali's singing voice, much different sounding now that she didn't have a synthesizer and a suit to distort it. Shepard thought it was cute when she played with her fingers, but he thought it was because she was nervous, and stopped doing it years ago. Did she not feel comfortable singing to him? "Though I know that dawn will set us on course for separate ways." She sang with her voice vibrating constantly and peacefully, bringing her hands tight together so she couldn't play with her fingers, and raised her hands to her chest.

Shepard stood up, remembering the last line of the song, and how it had to end. "Now unmasked, I feel your skin on mine." She sang, gingerly stepping closer to Shepard as he stood up. He grabbed her conjoined hands, and gently pulled them apart, taking a hand in each of his. He moved forward to kiss her, pulling her hands lower to rest in at waist level. Tali leaned into his kiss, and started to smile which broke their kiss off. "How was that?" She asked, her head lowering slightly, humbling herself before Shepard. Tali raised herself on her toes and leaned forward slightly, eagerly awaiting a comment from Shepard.

_Put it this way._ He worded, lovingly swaying her hands in his from left to right. _I'm glad it's me who lost my voice, and not you._ She opened her eyes wide, realizing how serious that actually was, and how much her voice actually meant to him. Tali smiled and blushed, trying to hide both by looking away. Shepard moved his head to see her face, and drew her attention back to him._ It was great, Tali._ He nodded to her, making her nod back. She didn't have a shred of nervousness in her body after that, never would she doubt again that Shepard really does love her for who she is.

"Well thank you. But now that that's over, what should we do now?" She asked, looking around the room for something fun to do. "I can cook you some more food." She said, quickly looking to Shepard and smiling eagerly as she awaited an answer.

_Ah... No thanks, I'm full._ He shook his head to her and rubbed his stomach with a hand, not having the guts to tell her it didn't taste good.

"But did you like the food, the eggs and bacon I made you?" His wife asked, letting go of his other hand, and stared as she waited for an honest answer. He nodded and gave a thumbs up to Tali, not wanting to technically lie to her. "Lying bosh'tet." Tali grumbled, narrowing her eyes at Shepard, faking an angry look. "Come." She commanded, turning around and walking into the kitchen, her hips swaying and entrancing Shepard as she strutted away. "You're going to cook me something to eat now." He nodded slowly as he followed her into the kitchen. "And if you make fun of my cooking again, or lie about it, I'll break out the whip." She threatened, smiling away from Shepard.

_The whip? _Shepard asked himself, with Tali somehow responding, even though she didn't see him talk.

"No Shepard, I don't really have a whip." Tali said, taking a seat in a black stool next to their kitchen counter. He nodded back to her, opening their refrigerator to find contents to make a quarian meal. "But I do have a shotgun." Shepard turned around to her, and gave a fake shiver of fear, which made her smile. "Now cook me something good." He nodded again, and turned back around to make a dish for his wife. He rolled up his blue shirt sleeves before beginning his requested job.

Tali heard a beep from their computer, which was rested on the counter she sat next to. She moved from her stool to the one closest to the computer and checked the messages. She gasped silently as she brought up the most recent message, and read it silently to herself.

Shepard was looking at the different assortments of foods in front of him, wondering how to make quarian food. He pursed his lips and started scratching at his chin. Tali let out a death rattling scream from behind Shepard, making his immediate response to draw a knife from the kitchen cabinet. He spun around to see what was happening and found only Tali staring at the computer screen, with a sharp teeth filled smile on her face. She slowly looked up to him, noticing he held a knife in his hands, and shook her head at him. "I'm not dying Shepard, I almost did though." John dropped the knife back into the drawer and shook his hands at Tali to get her attention. "What?"

_Why'd you scream, you crazy and beautiful woman?_ Her husband asked, his eyes wide as he waited for an answer. Tali waved him over to her with a hand, and patted a stool next to her. He threw his hands up in the air and came walking to Tali, because a simply answer would have sufficed after he nearly had a heart attack.

"Look," his wife said, pointing to the message screen on the computer, a file open. The file read, _Fleet and Flotilla Three._ "You see!" Tali asked, yelling at him and looking up to him with an innocent and exited look on her face.

He bolted his ears away from her loud and giggling mouth, squinting his eyes at the slight deafening sound he had heard. "Sorry." She said, giggling. He shook his head at her, not understanding why she was so excited. _There's a new movie? John_ asked, squinting his eyes at the screen and reading further.

"There will be." His bubbly wife said, her eyes filled with the same kiddish joy he saw in them when they were watching the movie. "They're making a third one, and want us to be the stars." Shepard smiled back at her, and massaged her shoulder with a hand, then walking back to the kitchen counter to cook her a meal.

"Won't it be fun!" Tali squealed, her face a few inches from the screen as she reread the message. "I've never been in a movie before." Shepard just shrugged his shoulders, thinking about what type of dialogue he'd get, or if they'd just slap some subtitles at the bottom of the screen when he talked. The thought of being in a movie with his condition embarrassed him slightly, but if Tali wanted to do it, then Shepard was going to do it for her. "It's says we can arrive on the set of the movie in two months time." She spoke through the smile on her face, giggling as she anticipated being a movie star.


	3. Rannoch Adventure

**Note: **I do have several ideas in mind for other chapters, one of those being where they go to the set of Fleet and Flotilla Three, to act in the movie. And, a few other ideas.

Most of said ideas will be hinted at in earlier chapters, like Chapter 2 talked about the next movie, which will end up being a chapter of it's own. And like this chapter will mention something, that appears in the next chapter.

This is just going to focus on what Rannoch looks like, in my opinion and view, and picks up a few hours after the last chapter.

* * *

><p>Tali was sitting by their kitchen counter, with a plate of colorful food remnants. She plucked the last pink fruit with white spots by the green bit of leaf that was connected to it, taking it off the plate, and hovered it over her mouth. She plopped the glossy and colorful fruit into her mouth, and crunched down on it with her sharp teeth. Shepard threw a rag down on the counter after washing his hands, and took a seat next to his wife.<p>

He stuck out a thumb, in question of the food quality. She nodded to him, and sputtered out a word. "Great." She mumbled, several pieces of wet and pink food coming from her mouth and splattering against Shepard's face. Shepard's eyes immediately closed tight, and his face scrunched up. She burst into laughter, using her hands to cover her sloppy mouth. "I'm so sorry." She said, wiping away red juices that were drooling from her lips.

_No, it's okay._ Shepard worded while he wiped away chunks of quarian fruit from his eyes.

Tali pushed the mostly empty plate away, and scooted closer to her beloved husband. "I got it." She said, grabbing the sides of his face and bringing him closer to her. She roamed her red and pointed tongue around his face, collecting and sucking the bits of food she sprayed on his face. He kept his eyes closed as she did this, but a smile formed on his face, as odd as it was for her to be eating food off of him as if he were a plate, he liked it. "Done." She said, pecking him on the lips and wiping her face with a hand.

He slowly opened his eyes to see her smiling at him, her hands clasped together innocently._ Thank you?_ He turned his head to her and worded questioningly.

"You're welcome. Even though it was just fruit, and all you did was make the sweet tasting sauce for it, I thank you." She said, eying her fingers and sucking them clean of the glossy liquid she mentioned. He nodded to her, and stood up from his chair. He rubbed a hand across his face, cleaning it of her saliva. "You taste pretty good too." She mentioned as he wiped his face clean. He smiled at her form of flattery and turned to see her. She was wiping her hands dry against each other, and then stared up at him.

_Get clothed, we're going to finish the rest of your list._ He mouthed, pointing his finger at her robed body and then to the stairs.

"We're going exploring, sweet!" She squealed, jumping up from the stool and scurrying through the door and up the stairs. Her feet lightly tapping on the stairs as she ran to their room to change. He walked to the stairs, seeing her prance to the top and enter their room. He walked to the top of the stairs feeling a pain in his legs again, and waited by their door for her to change.

He tapped his foot patiently against the black floor peppered with white, looking like space and reflecting slightly. He admired the cold and hard floor under him, thinking it an accurate depiction of real space. His eyes wandered the house as he awaited his wife's company. He looked through a window down the hallway, seeing tan and orange rock a ways down. His eyes began to wander into his own bedroom, seeing Tali through the crack of the door.

She was sliding some white jean shorts past her knees, running tight against her quarian shaped legs, and beginning to cover the purple panties she wore. Shepard smiled deviously to himself as he inspected his wife's body. Her upper body topless, and two average sized breasts exposed, dark gray nipples on them. She fitted her pants tightly onto herself, zipped the zipper closed, and gazed upward to see Shepard staring at her. He averted his eyes with haste, and turned his head to a painting on the wall, falsely admiring it. He scratched at his chin and turned his head to the painting, acting like he didn't just see his wife nude. The painting was of the Normandy, a black space background behind the white and black Normandy.

A throat being cleared was heard next to him, he turned slowly to see the person, his wife standing topless next to him. He turned his head back to the painting, thinking that peeping on her like that was disrespectful. "Shepard." She grumbled, her glowing eyes narrowing at him, as he attempted to ignore her naked body.

_Oh, didn't see ya there._ He acted surprised, and turned to look only into her eyes, no lower.

"I don't care if you look at me Shepard, in fact, I'd be insulted if you didn't. It should only be me you're looking at, so don't try to hide it, I'm your wife, remember?" She said, grabbing his face gently with both of her hands, and lowering his gaze to see her lower body. "It's not like there's something you haven't already seen." She removed her hands from his face and placed them at her hips, awaiting an answer or confirmation from him. He realized he was over-reacting, since she was his wife, and she loved him, it was okay to look. They were symmetrical and large enough to naturally touch each other, and never even dropped an inch from the time she took off her suit, but they did seem to grow. Her suit had all of her body pressed tight when she wore it, and compacted together, so when she took off her suit, her breasts seemed to enlarge. All of her body was perfect to Shepard.

_Yes ma'am._ He confirmed, nodding his head to her, as he stared at her breasts.

"You can look... but I still have a face you know." She said, lowering herself to see his eyes. He shook his head, breaking himself from the trance he was in.

_And it's a very pretty one._ He worded, giving her a quick kiss and holding out his hand to the door, so she could finish changing. She turned and started to walk back into the room. Shepard gave her rear a light slap as she entered their room, firm but jiggling with the slap. She turned around, a look of shock on her face. _What?_ He mouthed, smiling to her, and holding his arms out in question.

"It doesn't bother me, but if you don't stop, we won't even make it out the door. I might just pounce on you if I you keep it up, and you won't be able to leave once I've got you in my grip." She said, laughing silently and walking fully into the room. He understood her reasoning, and held his hands up in a fake surrendering gesture.

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><p>They were all fully dressed for the hot day weather of Rannoch. Tali wearing her short white jeans that left most of her legs exposed, and a loose white blouse. The neck of her blouse frilly and rippled in a fancy design, her purple bra barely visible through the white of the blouse. Shepard wore the same clothes he was dressed in for work. He had a blue dress shirt on, more loosely buttoned now. A white shirt beneath it, and some blue jeans. Tali came down the stairs with a shotgun in her hands, ready for hunting it seemed.<p>

Shepard stared at her surprised. She took a quick glance at him and said. "Ready?" He conintued his stare, until she finally noticed. "What?" She asked, looking behind her as if he was staring at something else.

He pointed to the gun in her hands._ Shotgun? There's no animals anywhere near this location, nothing to be afraid of, why do you need that? _He awaited an answer as she stared and pondered at the gun.

"I don't know, I just... I just haven't gotten to shoot anything in a while, and... I really wanted to shoot something." She whined, loosely holding the gun in a single hand, letting it slump closer to the ground.

_I'll take you to the shooting range later, okay?_ He proposed, taking the gun from her grasps.

"Really?" She asked, cheering up and smiling to him. "That'd be great!" She cheered, standing on her toes again, and smiling to Shepard. He nodded to her and gave another smile.

He ran up the stairs quickly to return the weapon to her dresser, and made his way back to her. "Ready?" She asked again, this time free of lethality. He nodded to her, and opened their door, the opening releasing a white and bright light before adjusting to their eyes. The outside of their house was as planted as the inside, several plants lined the borders of the house, and a metal cobble-stone like pathway led meters away from their home.

She wrapped her hand in his, their eight fingers making a weird shape together as they held hands. They looked around, observing a vast, arid, and orange-gray rocked plains area. A river or stream trickled from a path of rocks, shining and reflecting the suns light as it flowed down and around their house. They looked down a cliff that they stood a safe distance from, seeing a small ocean, seeming blue as it reflected the sky. The same ocean they had fought the reaper near, and discussed buying a home around. A few rocks jutted up from the ocean in random spots, making what waves there were, splash around them. They looked to the peak that legion had died at, and both gave a smile of love and sympathy for their geth friend. He swung her hand lightly in his, gaining her attention. _Just a quick peek around the house, not too far, okay? _He cautioned her, receiving an honest nod from her that satisfied him.

"Let's check around here." She said, pointing behind a large orange rock that was far away from their house, and speeding ahead of Shepard to see behind it. He tried to call out to her, and warn her to stay close, but his lack of a voice denied him that option. He reached a hand out and jogged over to her, feeling the shooting pain in his leg again as he ran to her, and seeing her stare behind the rock in awe. "Keelah." She stated, her mouth open and eyes wide as she looked into a cave. "It's a cave." She said, walking slowly and closer to it. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back quickly, and taking a tight grip on her forearm. "Oh, stop it, Shepard. It'll be okay, there's no animals around our house, you already said it yourself." She argued, pulling her hand back from Shepard but waiting for his vote.

_I don't know, looks pretty sketchy to me. _His mouth said, as he viewed the large and dark opening the cave showed.

"Relax, we won't go far inside, just a little peek." She said, inching her way closer to the doorway. Shepard followed suit, treading lightly and inspecting every corner of the mysterious cave. They entered the first layer of the cave, light still visible to them. Shepard stepped closer to the darker part of the cave, staring into the black abyss of nothingness, the hole big enough to fit ten elcor through. "Look at this." Tali called out, her voice echoing through the black natural hallway Shepard stared into.

He turned around and walked to her to see what she saw. She was looking down at a rather large white egg, spotted with black and orange, and slimy looking. "What is it?" She asked, reaching down to pick it up. "Looks like a giant bird egg, but Rannoch doesn't have giant birds." She said, moving her ear closer to it, to hear for movement.

_Don't._ Shepard warned, trying to take it from her hands, but she had heard something before he could. She heard a slimy and wet crawling sound, and a light chomping coming from behind the confines of the egg. In an act of fear or just surprise she dropped the egg, pushing it far away from her as she did, basically throwing it. It splatted against the side of orange rock, and the pieces fell behind another rock, although nothing seemed to be inside of it.

"Eww." She said, wiping her hands against a rock wall next to her, and looking to Shepard. "Sorry, it just scared me a little." She shrugged and began to search the rest of the cave. A loud thumping noise echoed from the large dark tunnel Shepard stared into moments ago, catching their attention. "What was that?" Tali asked in fright, backing away from the sound, but still trying to see through the black tunnel. Shepard backed up with her, keeping his body in front of her's, to guard her from whatever made the noise. "It's probably just the wind right?" She reasoned. "The wind must have knocked a rock over down there, or something?"

Shepard shook his head to her, and looked back to the gaping hole. They waited for a minute, but nothing surfaced from the hole, and no other sounds were heard. "I think it's nothing, let's just go back home." She said, tapping Shepard cautiously on the arm, but not taking her eye off of the tunnel. Shepard turned to see her, and also noticed a small insect resting on her shoulder, orange and black colored. It looked around with it's tiny spider-like head, and then started to stare at Tali. Shepard's mouth dropped open, as he contemplated how to deal with the bug. Tali noticed his stare and shock. "What?"

He raised a hand slowly, holding it steady, and not acknowledging Tali's question. "What!" She screamed as she grew impatient and scared. The bug on her shoulder reacted to the loud noise, and tried to make a run for it. It's multiple little legs scurried along Tali's arm, and Shepard reacted by brushing Tali's arm, hard enough to kill it, but not hard enough to hurt Tali. The bug dropped in front of Tali, landing on a rock, and looked up to her. "Ah!" She screamed quickly and raised a foot to try and smash the little creature. "Spiders!" She cried, smacking her body with her hands as she hopped out of the cave.

Shepard raised a foot to smash the tiny insect after Tali's hit had missed. Shepard stomped the little guy and quickly raised his foot to see if it was gone, and it was, not a trace of it left. It must have been completely obliterated by Shepard's foot, it was very small after all. Shepard ran out to calm Tali, who was still screaming and patting her hands on her body trying to kill spiders. He grabbed her arms tight, and held them at her side, looking intently at her eyes. She stopped hesitating and screaming to look at Shepard. "Did you kill it?" She asked, her head scanning their bodies for the bug. He nodded his head to her, and let go of her arms.

_It's gone._ He said, smiling to her, as the fear in her eyes disappeared.

"Thank you." She said in relief, her body relaxing to her usual state. "Spiders aren't even supposed to be on Rannoch, no insects are, that's fifty percent of the reason I wanted to live here. It must have been engineered by the geth, or made by them for some purpose I fail to see, because spiders are stupid and have no purpose." She argued, shivering as she mentioned the word, spiders. "This was enough of an adventure for me, I'm done for today." She sighed, and motioned her hand for Shepard's. "I knew I should have brought my shotgun." She grumbled and looked back to the cave where the spider was at.

He smiled and accepted her hand, locking fingers together and walking back to their home quietly. Shepard and Tali entered their small entry hallway and kicked off their shoes happily. "Whelp, we're inside for the rest of the day it seems." Tali said, peeking through the glass window next to their door, searching for spiders that could have followed.

_It's okay Tali, it was just one spider, there are no more._ Shepard tried to ease her fear, and wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.

"That was a huge egg... Imagine the size of the... never mind, I don't want to talk about it." She said, turning away from the door and walking into the living room and plopped herself down on the couch. She sighed in relief of being back in their own home, and calmly closed her eyes. Shepard smiled at her, unknown to her, and walked up the stairs to change into something more comfortable.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> So that big-ass cave they went to... I was implying there was a huge spider down there, and that it was moving around, but I don't plan on talking about it again, because a giant spider seems dumb and too lord of the rings-y to me, but I thought I'd hint at it being down there, in case you didn't understand it. There aren't even supposed to be any insects on Rannoch, but I wanted Tali to flip shit over something, so it's spiders, I'm going with the excuse that there's only a few of them around and they were made by the geth... idk.

Thank you for reading.


	4. Spider

**Note:** Don't worry, there's still a "boss battle" this chapter, except it's just a little smaller than ten elcor. The shooting range will be next chapter, but at the moment I need more spiders to scare Tali and Shepard.

"_If there are now arachnids on Rannoch, and insects and arachnids aren't native to the ecosystem, they could utterly ravage the wildlife of Rannoch. It would cause a grave imbalance and would likely trigger mass extinctions and plague-like consequences." _HOLY SHIT! I JUST KILLED ALL OF THE QUARIANS! I better kill those eight-legged bastards off quick. When I made it the geth that made them, I was under the opinion that they were trying to help the planet by making insects that could pollinate flowers, and bring life er... something, to Rannoch- Ah hell I don't know, I just wanted spiders. So, geth = good. My knowledge of science in general = bad. :D And I'm not even sure if in this story the geth survived or not, I suppose I'll let them live, idk.

As usual, thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following.

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><p>Shepard stood alone in his bathroom, the door open to reveal his and Tali's bedroom, a white cover placed carefully and neatly atop the bed. A single light on in the bathroom, that gave light to half of their bedroom, shown from above the mirror Shepard stared at. He examined his shirtless body, the large scar that covered from under the right ear, down to the right of his collar bone. He lifted a hand, to trace the feel and length of the scar. It was discolored from the rest of his skin, whiter at some parts, and darker at others. It had the texture of a splintered tree branch, and was numb in the spots it covered.<p>

He frowned to himself in the mirror, lowering his hands to examine lesser scars, that he usually paid no mind to. Smaller scars sparsely covered his torso, decorating his muscled body, smooth complexion, and white skin with reminders of past wounds. He again paid no mind to these minor details and instead moved a hand up to his face, feeling a rough and prickly feeling on his jaw. Tali liked the facial hair Shepard had, at least she did until she actually felt it against her lips and face. Ever since then, she ordered him to keep his face clean, or he would receive no "loving" as she put it, from her. He humphed to himself and reached for his shaver, but stopped the movement when he heard a sound bellow from downstairs. "Shepard!" Tali scream was heard from the living room she was supposed to be at.

Shepard threw the shaver down lazily into the sink, and bolted through both doors, the bathroom and bedroom door to get closer to his wife. He doubled down the stairs as fast as his wounded leg would let him move, feeling the pain surface again, and silently cursing it as he quickened to his wife's aid. He hopped off the last stair, and ran into the living room, turning his head left and then right to look for Tali. "Over here." She whimpered, her voice almost a sad tone. She was hiding behind the couch, shyly waving a hand to Shepard. "It's by the TV." She squealed, violently prodding her gray finger in the direction of their television.

He slowly edged his way closer to her, keeping an eye on the television, looking for any sign of movement. Nothing big was seen near the TV, so he checked her with his eyes for a joking expression, but she wasn't joking. "The spider!" She cried aloud, again shoving her finger toward the TV. "It must have followed us back here."

_I thought I smashed it?_ Shepard pondered, his pupils looking up as he remembered back to the cave, where he destroyed the spider with a single stomp of his foot. _Maybe it attached to the grooves of my shoe?_ He thought, then shaking his head and walking closer to the TV screen.

"Don't get too close! It can smell your fear!" Tali sneered at the spider's supposed location, and then quickly ducked her head back behind the couch. Shepard jokingly rolled his eyes at her, and looked back to the TV.

Shepard approached the side of the Television that Tali pointed to with caution, but saw no spider. Tali's head popped back up to see him. "Did you get it?" She said, her jaw trembling and teeth chattering with fear. He shook his head to her and continued to scan the side of the TV.

An odd discoloration of orange stripes, in the shape of a diamond were stuck to the side of the electronic device. He stuck his head out, looking closer at the stripes he saw. The stripes belonged to the spider Tali saw, it was black and orange, almost hidden on the black TV if not for the orange it had. It was no bigger than a bean, and wasn't moving, rather it stayed glued to it's spot. Shepard pressed his thumb against the spider, hearing it crunch beneath his hand. He pulled away, and stared at the dead bug, mushed against the side of the television.

He stuck the same thumb out to Tali, and gave her a smile. _It's dead as dead._ He mouthed, lifting a foot to leave his spot, but noticing Tali trembling and pointing another finger at the dead bug.

Shepard turned his head to see the dead bug's body, only it wasn't dead, and had doubled in size. He jolted his head back in shock, let his lips twitch, and stepped farther away. He heard a hissing sound come from the bug, and it tried to scurry away. Shepard lunged forward, and swatted his hand at it again, hearing another crunch. The bug was near flat again, but started to shake and popped up, doubling in size a second time. _Shit._ Shepard swore through his breath, and tried to chase the small monster, but it escaped him. _Not good._ He thought, his head scanning the floor, walls, and ceiling for the large bug.

He saw something the size of his hand crawl behind a desk, it's eight feet making tapping sounds on the hard flooring. Shepard usually didn't have problems with spiders, but a spider that big, that was a different story. He backed away quickly from the desk he saw it hide under, and took his place beside Tali. He knelt down by her, as she shook, terrified and scared. "Please tell me it's dead." She whimpered, the tone of her voice suggesting she already knew the answer. All Shepard did was look at her, and she knew the answer. "Son-of-a-bitch!" She screamed, and shot her hands up to cover her mouth, in fear of the insect hearing her.

Shepard smiled, but only for a second at her use of a human swear, and then returned to a feared look. "It couldn't have gotten far right? I mean, it's only the size of a nail, what harm could it do?" She said, her back to the couch, and waiting on Shepard's non-verbal answer. He shook his head at her, not knowing how to tell her that the beast roaming around in their room could double in size and was now as big as a rat. "What's," She shook her had at him. "Mean?" Saying it in a stressed tone, wondering what he meant by it. He gave an exaggerated shrug to her, not having time to give a real answer.

"Wherever it is, I don't see it out... there..." She slowed her speech, and gulped, turning slowly and staring above Shepard's head. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" She squealed in a high and piercing tone, scrambling to her feet, and leaving Shepard alone in the room. Shepard reached a hand out for her, but it did no good, she was out of the room before he could ask her why. Her feet stomping up the stairs, screaming all the while she ran.

He heard a wet clicking sound above his head, sounding like sopping and slimy talons tapping each other. Shepard looked above his head slowly, seeing the spider, now the size of his own head, twirling above him on a line of it's silk web. It clicked two pairs of fangs against each other, different from an Earth spider that has a single pair. Shepard did as Tali did, and speed for the stairs. He didn't make it far, before the pain in his leg returned, this time with a longer hurt. Shepard collapsed to the floor next to the living room doorway, only feet from the hallway and stairs.

He gripped at his leg, cursing it under his breath, as he stared hopelessly at the incoming spider. It's sharp pointed legs were pure black, and ticked at the floor as they slowly scurried to him. It's eyes a dozen, and as red as rubies. A soppy liquid oozed from it's fangs and mouth, brown colored and dripping onto the floor. It's legs tapped and ticked against the hard black floor as it inched closer to Shepard, if spiders could smile, then this one was smiling. It was in some ways better to fight a giant spider than one this size, since a giant spider could gobble you up without actually digging into your skin, but this one would poke and stab until you were all but dead and then it would eat you living. Shepard's thoughts were filled with what it would do with him, and what it would do to Tali once it got passed him.

He tried to crawl away, the pain in his leg slowly wavering again. _Maybe I can get to a knife in the kitchen before it gets me, or maybe..._ His thoughts interupted as his advance on the kitchen was halted by two gray, warm, and smooth pillars. His wife's exposed legs, looking up to see her, she held a shotgun steady at her waist, and squinted her eyes at the bug. "Stay away from my husband, you creepy, eight-legged, scurrying, bosh-tet spider." She let out the mouth-full of words, a small smile took to the corner of her lips, as she had the upper hand now.

The large insect roared at Tali, it's former hiss now a sound of pure evil. The brown spit that clung to it's fangs twirled and dropped as it growled at Tali. It's back four legs planted firmly on the floor, it's front four were pointed to Tali in a threatening manner. It leaped for her, screaming a monstrous sound as it engaged. Tali let it come no further than the tip of her gun before she fired, her arm jolting a little with the kick of the gun. It's body flinging to the opposite side of the room, and splitting into different pieces. It's brown spit and white blood sputtered from the barrel of Tali's shotgun, and painted the floor around them.

Shepard slowly stood to his feet, his leg trembling slightly. "If I would have taken my shotgun with me the first time we wouldn't have had to go through this." She pointed out, giving Shepard an _I told you so_, smile. She stood the gun up against the door-frame, taking a quick look at the carnage the shotgun blast had caused. Different colors of the bugs liquids were draped around the room, and pieces of it laying on the floor.

Shepard gave her a nod and smile, his eyes studying her face as it changed to a large and full smile.

They both seemingly had the same reaction and instinct to the end of their conversation and smiling. Their lips attacked each other, and their hands grappled onto each other's faces. Tali pulled on and curled her fingers through his shaggy black hair, her eyes closed as her lips and tongue still fought Shepard's. Shepard's hands placed lightly over the sides of her face, covering part of her ears. Her hands left the top of his head, and moved to his jaw, feeling short hairs on it. She didn't stop her onslaught of kissing, instead she spoke to him in between breaths and kisses. "Shouldn't- you- shave- soon?" She asked, between breaths and went straight back to kissing him afterward, not giving him time to answer.

He pulled away from her, only for a second to answer. He gave her a single nod, and then turned towards the bloody living room next to them. _Shouldn't we..._ He said through his breath, asking her if they should clean up the mess first.

"I told you, that if I got you in my grasps, I wouldn't let you go until I'm finished." She said, cocking her head at him, and grabbing back onto him. "And I'm not finished." She purred, twisting him around, and lightly pushing him onto the steps of the stairs. He obliged her and sat down on the stairs. She grabbed the bottom of her blouse, and pulled it over her head, revealing her purple lacy bra, fitting tight against her chest. She threw the white cloth at Shepard, hitting him in the face. He threw it off, landing against the corner of the stairs, and gave Tali an annoyed smile and eye roll. "Now we can finish that last thing on our to-do list for today." She said, smiling and working on the button and zipper of her white shorts.

_Yes we can._ Shepard mouthed to her, watching her shimmy her shorts down her legs, and gave a wanting smile.

"This can be an early present." She said seductively, kicking her pants away.

_For what?_ Shepard asked, still smiling like a fool. Tali stopped removing her clothes, and the smile she had on her face disappeared. Shepard didn't know what she was talking about, but if he didn't play his cards right, he was going to be a lonely man for a few nights. _I'm just kidding. I know._ He worded, smiling large but falsely, as he pondered what the hell the present was for, and who it was for. The smile returned to her face, and she lunged for him, straddling him with her legs, resting them around the outside of his. She grabbed his face with her palms, and smothered his face with her lips.

"I knew you wouldn't forget, I just knew it!" She yelled, hyped up to no end. She continued kissing his face, his forehead, lips, cheeks, and even his nose. "I love you Shepard." She purred again, nearly strangling his shocked body with a hug.

He didn't reply, for his mind was set on why she was so happy, and still wondering what the special thing was she was talking about.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> Tehehe. Bet you thought it was gonna go further that that, didn't yah. Didn't yah! Well too bad.

Next chapter is probably going to be the shooting range, and then something else, and then Fleet and Flotilla Three.

If you liked it, yah! If you didn't, aww... Either way, tell me why. Thank you for reading.

And one more thing, the reason I'm not going in depth about Shepard's appearance, is because he's the default and same as in game, but with longer hair, idk why but yeah.


	5. Shooting Range

**Note:** This one's longer than the others, so you're welcome. :)

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><p>Shepard and Tali were laying in their bed, Tali resting on top of her husband, and lightly breathing as she slept. She had her gray arms wrapped around him in a hug, while he waited awake under her, wondering how he could get out of her grasp without waking her. He managed to wriggle one of his arms gently from her grasps, and slide a puffy white pillow under her other arm. He pushed her long hair away from his face, and writhed away from her, and out of bed. He laid her head down on another pillow, and watched her clutch her grasp around the pillow he offered her arm.<p>

He grinned at his accomplishment, and at how innocent his wife looked sleeping, and took a step to leave. Before he could leave, he slipped on the rug that laid out in front of their bed, and landed with a thud on the ground. He bolted upward to see if she woke from it, but all she did in reaction was twist in the bed, to face the other way. He didn't know Tali was a heavy sleeper, but this might have proved it. He gave one last look to her, seeing her three toed and gray feet stick out of the end of the cover she had wrapped around her, and her gray arm which lazily rested off the side of the bed.

He walked down stairs to make breakfast for them both, shielding his eyes from the stinging light that fell from the window, and releasing a large yawn. He walked to the window, and threw the blue curtains in front of it, turning to the fridge, he wondered what to make. He heard a pinging sound next to their door, faint and slow paced, someone was here. He noticed a blue light appear on the ceiling of every room, very dim, but noticable, to alert the owners of the house that someone was here. Shepard walked to the door, before the pinging sound, or the light woke Tali.

He swung open the door quickly, being met with an old human man, holding a wrapped box in his hand. He had brown hair and eyes, and a beard peppered with gray. His face ordinary, and kindly. Shepard noticed the hand he held a book or box in was missing finger joints, the first joints of his longest fingers were taken from him. The man spoke. "Good morning sir. Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Stannis the Mannis?" He gave a smile when he finished. Shepard didn't have time to talk with this stranger, about whatever religion he was preaching.

Shepard shook his head at him, and began to close the door. The man grabbed the door with his left, full fingered hand and pleaded. "Wait, It was only a joke, I have a delivery for a... Mrs... Towel Zorham... va-vas..." The man clearly wasn't a well read man, and squinted his eyes down to the letters on a tablet as he spoke, and butchered Tali's name.

Shepard grabbed the package from the man, and nodded to him. "So it's yours?" He asked, scanning Shepard with his eyes, noticing Shepard's shirtless body, and then raising his eyes once he noticed Shepard's boxers. "Are you... a Mrs..." He stared up at Shepard, his face scared and almost revolted. John shook his head at him, and raised his ringed finger. "Oh... how stupid of me, it's for your wife." Shepard nodded quickly to the man, and tried to close the door on him, but was stopped again. "Begging your pardon sir, could I come in and have a drink, of water maybe? I've been on the road all day, looking for your house, since I clearly am not the best reader."

Shepard nodded to him, and moved to let the older man in. "Not much for talking are ya?" The courier asked, and waited by a stool next to their kitchen counter. Shepard humphed at the man, and moved to the sink to get him a glass of water. "Can I?" The man asked, pointing to the seat he stood next to. Shepard gave him another nod, and pursed his lips. "Thank ya." The man took the seat, and examined Shepard and Tali's house, while he waited for a drink. "Oh, you don't know how hard it is, surviving a war." He held his shortened fingers up to his eyes, the hand covered by a brown leather glove, staring at them blankly. "I lost my fingers, and can hardly hold a damn thing with my right hand anymore. You're lucky you didn't do any fighting."

Shepard poured the crystal clear water into a small glass cup, and set it down by the man, also taking a seat with him. The delivery man looked up to him, as he took the drink. Shepard mouthed some words to him. _I can't talk._ Shepard pointed his finger to his mouth, and then shook his head, giving a nonverbal gesture to why he can't talk.

The older man's face turned bitter, and sad. "I'm so sorry, I... I didn't know." He set the water down, and tended to mending Shepard's feelings, because he thought he broke them. "I didn't know you fought in the wars, I- I- I thought you were just a civilian." The man's voice was raised, to a point Shepard thought it might wake Tali. He put a finger up this his lips, to silence the courier.

_It's okay, you didn't know._ Shepard smiled to the man, to let him know no harm was done with his words.

The kind man's eyes opened wide in shock, and his mouth dropped open. "Tali... Tali Zorah... that was how you say her name... and that means that you're John Shepard." He blinked slowly, awaiting an answer. "How couldn't I see it before?"

Shepard shrugged and smiled. _That's me._ He pointed to the glass, allowing the man to drink up now, and leave to his job.

He eyed the glass, and took it in his hands. He gulped the liquid down in a few seconds, and turned his attention back to Shepard. "I'll be going now, it was really nice to see you though." He tapped his short fingers and hand on the table before getting up. Tali came walking down the stairs, covered in her purple robe thankfully, and yelped when she saw the man. "Milady." He bowed his head to her, and gave a smile.

"Hello." Tali said slowly to the man, studying him, wondering why he might be here.

"Wish I could stay and talk more, but there's more packages to be delivered. Milady." He bowed again, and turned to leave. Shepard realized the package was sitting on the table, alone and open to a wandering eye. He snatched it away, and hid it under the counter he sat by, hoping Tali wouldn't notice it until he had time to figure out why people were sending her gifts.

The man had left the room, looking at a letter in his hands, mumbling the address to himself as he wandered around the terrain of Rannoch. Tali smiled at the man, as he continued mumbling to himself far away from their house. "He was a little strange. What was he here for?" Tali asked kindly, taking a seat across from Shepard. He gave her a shrug, and proceeded to explain.

_He's a friend, must have just come by to talk. Hey, go get changed, we're going to the shooting range today._ He pointed up to the ceiling, and in the direction of their bedroom, keeping one hand under the desk to hide her present from her.

"The shooting range!" She shrieked, jumping out of her chair and running up stairs as she continued to yell at Shepard. "This is going to be amazing! I bet I'll beat you, I was always a better shot anyway! Don't you agree! Say nothing if you agree! Thanks!" He heard the door slam to their bedroom, leaving him alone downstairs now. A smile graced his lips, thinking about how cute his wife was, and how many jokes she had to give about Shepard's condition, and how they always made him smile.

Now that he was alone, Shepard took the box in his hands, and scoured for a name. He saw a little sticker stuck onto the gift-wrapped box, labeled. _To: Tali, From: Kasumi _also noticing little red hearts and smiley faces drawn around Tali's name. _Damn it Kasumi, couldn't you have wrote what the gift was for?_ He thought to himself, and stuffed the gift into a drawer under the counter-top._ Okay, it can't be her birthday, that was... that was... okay I don't even know when she was born. It could be our anniversary, but we only got married a few months ago. Or maybe it's when I first asked her out, which was...sometime on the Normandy, damn it, this is tough._

He continued running through options of anniversaries in his head. _When she became an admiral. That could be it. Or, when we first had sex. Nope that's really dumb. Maybe it's for the time we went on our first mission. That's possible. _

"I'm ready!" She shouted, walking down stairs after a few minutes of being up there. Her attire was her old purple clothed and intricate metaled envirosuit. "I figured, if I'm going to shoot again like we used to, then I should dress like I used to." Shepard gave her an approving smile and nod, walking up to her, and feeling the side of her body. He traced his hand along her fully clothed form, and tried to look through her purple mask to see her pretty face, but he could only make out the eyes and part of her nose. "Um... maybe I should rethink this." She said, squirming in the position she stood. "I forgot that wearing this thing meant I can't touch you, or anything else with my actual skin."

_You'll be fine, besides, you look great._ He mouthed, stepping back and walking up the stairs slowly, gripping his leg as he walked up to change.

* * *

><p>Shepard and Tali had arrived at a small quarian city, named after a quarian ship, Qwib Qwib. They walked through the streets, paved with a shining and reflective silver. Tall street lights lined the road, shinning a bright yellow, shooting their light to the ground. The town was populated with a majority of quarians, half of which still wore their exosuits, maybe they didn't trust their systems to adapt or maybe they just didn't like change. A few short buildings were spread far apart, in between the small white metal buildings, there were construction spots, made for larger buildings.<p>

Shepard wore a black N7 hoodie, under it a plain gray shirt, and black jeans on. "Why'd you where all of that black, you know black color attracts heat right?" Tali nagged him, walking close and slowly as they searched for the shooting range that was rumored to be there. She looked to him for an answer.

He shook his head at her. _Black absorbs heat, it doesn't attract it... silly quarian girl._ He shook his head in a disapproving manner, and received a light punch from Tali.

"Don't correct me, you bosh'tet." She sneered at him. Shepard couldn't tell if she was smiling, or frowning from behind her mask.

_You're right. _Shepard dramatically nodded his head up and down, making fun of his wife. _Women are always right, no matter what._

She just stared at him, as she thought of a comeback to his joking insult. "You've been hanging out with Kenneth too much. His sexism is starting to rub off on you."

_Oh, you know I'm kidding. _He wrapped his arm around the back of her neck, pulling her head close and kissing the top of it, his lips touching the purple cloth on her head.

"There it is." She pointed ahead to a small one story building, with a sign outside shining a red color, it read, _Shooting Gallery._ Tali walked speedily ahead of Shepard, making it to the door before him, and holding it open for him. "Ladies first." She held her hand out next to the door, making way for him. He thought her heard a faint giggle from behind her mask.

_You know, that would be funny, if it wasn't done so often._ He walked inside the room, seeing a mostly empty but well kept room.

"What do you mean, done so often? Joker told me it was a funny joke." She whined, walking into the room behind Shepard.

_That's Joker. _He worded, turning to talk to her. _But it was still cute, if that's good enough for you._

"Fine." She groaned, crossing her arms over her chest. She seemed to realize that they were actually inside the shooting gallery now, and beamed with excitement. "Oh yeah!" She squealed, running to the front desk, where a quarian man stood, wearing regular clothing. She smacked her hands on the desktop, gaining the man's attention.

He had eyes similar to Tali's but smaller, and they had a certain demeanor to them, that seemed strong and hardened. The black markings on his head, were sharper than Tali's, making zigzags as they traced the side of his face and disappeared under his shirt. His skin color was a grayer shade than Tali's, where her's could almost look a blue in the right light, his was a pure gray. He had a straight nose, thin lips, and black hair that almost shined a red. He turned his head at Tali, as she was about to ask where they could shoot at, and squinted at her body. "Admiral Zorah?" He asked, smiling slightly.

Shepard and Tali both knew the voice, although the last time they heard it, it was distorted behind his mask. "Kal'Reegar?" Tali and Shepard both asked, Shepard through his breath silently, a smile on their faces now.

"The one and only. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking Shepard up and down, and then Tali.

"We came here to order a number two meal." Tali said, tapping a finger against the vocalizer of her mask. "Duh, we came here to shoot stuff!" She yelped, pulling her shotgun from it's lock, and gripping it tight. "What can I shoot?" She asked, looking around the room for a potential target.

"There's some targets over there." He nodded his head to his right, revealing behind him two separate halls for shooting, with a target far in the end of the hall. "You can sign up on this, type your names in, and compete." He said, sliding an electronic tablet over to the pair of people. "So, how have things been?" He asked, as Tali punched her name into the device.

"Fine, we've had a few interesting days as of late. We've been invited to play in Fleet and Flotilla Three, we found a cave far away from our house, and killed a giant spider thingy." She finished, and moved the tablet to Shepard.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that movie, although I heard it might be pretty dumb. They're changing the entire plot of the movie, so it's pretty much not the same thing anymore." He shrugged, and watched Shepard type his name into the device.

"Dumb, no way, it's going to be awesome." She argued, her shoulders slacking in disappointment.

"You can have hope if you want, maybe you guys can make it a great movie, but from what I heard..." The corner of his lip raised, giving a half smile, sympathetically for Tali. "I mean, what's the point of making it after something the old viewers loved, and completely changing it, taking out all of the characters that you got attached to, and the story you've invested time and care into?"

"Oh well, at least I'll be a movie star!" She hugged the gun tight against her chest, smiling behind her mask, hidden to the other men.

But Kal proceeded his argument about the movie. "Yeah, could you imagine someone making a movie, or something about your lives, and then in the next movie they take you guys out? I mean, you're the main characters, they shouldn't take you guys out."

Shepard gave a lighthearted laugh to Kal, having Tali elbow him in the gut as a response. "You take it as seriously as I do Kal, that's good." She said, walking away from the two men, and taking a spot in an open alley.

Shepard pulled a rifle from the rack Kal had next to him, and walked to stand next to his wife.

"And about the spiders." He said, catching their attention before they began. "I heard some quarian biological, or scientist group went into the cave you're talking about, and torched it." He said nodding lightly. "Those spiders, are cooked. So, there's no worrying about them anymore."

"Great, now let's watch me kick Shepard's butt at shooting." She taunted, pointing her shotgun in the direction of the target. She breathed silently, in and out, and shot her gun. The bullet traveling far, lighting the hallway made of a stone material as it speed through, and landing at the end in less than a second. "Did I hit it?" She asked, turning her head at the far target, shaped like a man's upper body.

A strange but familiar voice spoke aloud, coming from the left of Tali and Shepard. "Creator Zorah gets zero points." Shepard and Tali turned to look at the person that sounded like Legion, but it was a regular undamaged white geth.

"That's Spot." Kal said, pointing to a blackened mark on the geth's armor, looking like a bullet piercing. "Before the geth were on our side during the war, I shot that thing right in chest, almost killing it, and he shot me in the leg. But, when you had that friend, Legion, of yours turn the geth to our side, we just hugged it out. Now I'm no longer capable to be in the military, so they let me out and now I get paid retirement money, and for disability because of this leg." He said, tapping one of his legs, that was supposedly wounded badly. "Now we're the best of friends, me and Spot. Isn't that right buddy."

"Spot is glad to help anytime creator Reegar." The geth turned back to look at Tali and Shepard, acting as their scoreboard it seemed. "Creator Zorah gets zero points." He restated, making Tali slouch and wait on Shepard's turn.

"I bet you'll miss." She groaned, setting her gun on the bench in front of her.

_We'll see._ Shepard mumbled, and aimed for the far target, and shot once he was ready. There was a pinging sound at the far end of the hall, and the geth announcer gave the score.

"John Shepard gets five points." Kal'Reegar clapped for Shepard, making Tali turn and stare through him viciously. Although they couldn't see her facial expressions, they knew it wasn't a smile she was giving. He stopped his clap and looked to the ground awkwardly.

"What is the point system, how did he get five points?" Tali asked, still staring at Kal.

He looked back up to answer. "Five for a head shot, and one for anywhere else." He shrugged, and gave a half smile. "Sorry Tali, but you're losing."

"My turn now." She grumbled, picking up her gun and aiming for the target.

Before she shot, a voice called out to her. "Good luck creator Zorah." The sound of Spot made her jump, and clearly miss her shot. The bullet bounced off of the ceiling and hit the ground just in front of the target.

She slowly turned her head to the geth, and stared again. "Thank you, Spot." Her voice sounded of sarcasm and spite.

"Creator Zorah is most welcome. But, she has still earned no points this round."

Shepard smiled and took his gun up, aiming it at the target. Keeping both eyes open as he looked down the sights, and fired. The same pinging sound was heard, and the announcer gave another total. "John Shepard has earned one more point." Shepard turned to Tali and gave a slight bow.

"Cocky bosh'tet." She insulted, and rolled her arms back, popping them before shooting. "I've got it this time. And you better be quiet this time." She said to the geth, pointing a finger at it's head. She slowly turned her head back to the target and readied her gun. She breathed in and out again, and fired, hearing a pinging sound at the end of the hall. She swelled with pride as she thought she earned some points, gave a fist pump, and hopped around with joy.

"Creator Zorah gets negative five points." The geth said in it's electronic voice.

"What!" She screamed at it, dropping her gun in front of her. "How!" She threw her hands in the air and began pacing around in circles. Shepard and Kal giggled at Tali.

"Spot was only joking with creator Zorah. She has gained five points." He said in the same tone of voice as before, which was the bad part about them making jokes, you could never tell if they were joking.

"Ha ha! I'm almost beating you John!" She jabbed her finger against his chest, and crossed her arms over her's in delight.

* * *

><p>The shooting continued until the finishing and winning score of fifty points was achieved. Shepard had won the game, and Tali followed with only thirty points.<p>

They were waiting for Kal'Reegar, who told them they could pick out gifts, for playing the shooting game. Kal came out of his little office with several bags of gifts. "You don't have to give us anything Kal, it was just nice to see you." Tali said when he came out, as he placed the bags in front of them.

"No, I insist. Anyway, you get a little squirt gun, so Tali can practice her shooting." He said smiling at Shepard, who also gave a smile.

"Oh, they're joke gifts. Fine, get it over with." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, and waiting for the insults to end.

"And here's a trash bag for you to put all of your hopes and dreams of shooting, Tali." He said, handing her an empty bag.

"If you weren't my friend, I'd shoot you." She said, whacking the bag away from her, and letting it fall to the ground.

"Yeah, you'd probably miss too, so I'm not worried." She shot her eyes up to him. He and Shepard laughed again, as she continued her stare. "But seriously, I've got some cool little glow sticks, and a few quarian and geth toys for kids." He handed the items out to Shepard and Tali, who took them in their hands and stared. Little colored glow sticks, blues, greens, and reds in Tali's hands. And, several geth and quarian toy figurines, holding little guns in their hands. "You're welcome." He said, picking up the bag Tali dropped, and snatching the items from them, to put them in the bag. "It was nice having you guys here." He said, handing them the bag of goodies.

"Nice to be here Kal, we'll see you later then?" Tali said, taking the bag and turning the leave the tiny building.

"Sure, we're here all day, right Spot?"

"From hours ten in the morning, to ten at night." The geth corrected him. "Have a nice day creator Zorah, and John Shepard."

"Bye Spot." Tali exited the building, with Shepard still inside.

Shepard turned to Kal quickly, to try and ask him something._ Kal, do you have a better gift anywhere? I think it's Tali's birthday or something, and she wants a gift from me._

"What?" He asked, leaning forward on the desk, getting closer to Shepard. Shepard threw his hands in the air, and darted them for the tablet they typed their names on.

He typed out his question to Kal, in a matter of seconds, since Tali could come back in any second. "Oh, sure. I got this." He said, reaching under his side of the desk and pulling out a shiny something. He held in his hands a jeweled necklace. It had purple colored jewels hanging from the silver metaled lace, three Jewels, the center one the largest. Shepard's mouth dropped open, wondering if Kal understood that Shepard wanted a gift, and didn't just want to see an expensive one.

_Are you sure?_ Shepard said, lightly holding the necklace in his hands, and carefully examining the jewels.

"They're real. It's the least I could do, after all, you've saved my life before. And you kinda saved all of the quarians too, you and that geth friend of yours."

_Where'd you?_

"Some delivery guy came buy a few days ago and gave it to me, said his boss wanted it to go to me, and should someone ask for a gift for their wife that I should give it to them. Kinda weird, I thought he was just crazy, but here you are asking for a gift. Take it." He pushed the gift further into Shepard's hands, and smiled at him.

_I can't just take a handout, I want to pay for it._ Shepard begged him.

"Nonsense, you paid for it when you died... twice technically, and when you saved my life, and all of the quarians' lives."

_I want to pay for it somehow, other than the way you described I've paid for it._ Shepard continued to argue with him, until Kal gave in.

"Fine, since you're a hero and savior of the galaxy, and you're going to be a movie star soon, you could promote this shooting range." He said, sliding a different tablet over to Shepard. "If I could just get it in writing, that'd be great."

Shepard nodded to him, and wrote a familiar sentence of words down. _I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite shooting range on Qwib Qwib._

"Perfect." He said, looking at the signature. "Now if I could just get a picture of you holding one of my rifles, and standing in front of the range here, that'd be great." He said, grabbing a rifle and placing it in Shepard's hands. The geth walked over, and flashed a picture of Shepard with a hidden camera. "Great. Take care now." He took the rifle back, and placed it on the rack with a few others. "It was nice seeing you guys." He ended, saying to Shepard as he walked outside, seeing Tali outside playing with the toys. Making shooting sounds with her voice, and bashing the quarian and geth toys against each other.

Shepard tapped a hand against her shoulder, catching her attention. She spun around and stuffed the toys back into the bag, and cleared her throat. "Ready to go?" She asked, placing the bag behind her back in shame.

_Yup._ He locked his hand with one of hers, and began their walk back home.

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong> I gave this a rough once over, so there's possibly a lot of spelling mistakes. Anyway, thanks for reading.


	6. Happy Something

**Note:** In response to Kill-Phil's questions.

**1.** I try to give Shepard short lines, because they'd be easier to lip-read, rather than a whole sentence. But, there are times when it calls for an entire sentence, or close to one, just to get a point across and further the story. I did say that Tali has gotten used to reading his lips, so he can "speak" longer strings of words to her and have her understand... most of the time. And I give Shepard non-verbal actions as well, like pointing to stuff, but I can't say everything he's pointing to, and doing to non-verbally tell her, because that would take too long. But, just know that he's also making hand/eye movements to get his point across as well. As for the language barrier thing, this was just laziness on my part, since I half expected this story to be a one-shot and done, and half to be an actual story, I didn't go into detail or give a lot of explanations/reasons to things. Although I did always have in mind the fact that she speaks Kelish and him English, I just overlooked it. And you guys are going to have to overlook it for now, unless you want to go with the, Shepard and Tali are quick learners and learned each others languages in the short months after the war, explanation. lol

**2.** Yup, I knew it started with an E. :) envirosuits is the one I was thinking of. I Googled exo-suit because I thought it was it, but couldn't remember from the game (and I didn't want to pop in a copy of ME just to check) and I saw a few things talking about quarians and exo-suits so I went with it. But envirosuit was the word I was looking for, so I'll probably go back and change that.

**3.** That was just a mistake, after writing so many "creator zorah's, and creator Reegar's," I acidentally put a few creator Shepards. I'll go back and change it to just Shepard.

You say there are other questions, if you want you can ask them, but I do want to answer a potential question for others now. I've never been a science-y type of person, so I'm not sure if it's possible, even for alien types. But! About their hair shining different colors, it's just something I thought would be cool, and something to make them more alien from humans. Since the "Tali" they gave us was just a human with two less digits on each hand, and some black lines on her head, I try to make quarians unique (Red pointed tongue, hair shining... etc) I'm not sure if it's possible, or if you guys like/hate it, but it's in here for now.

WOW that was long! But as long as it answers questions, then it's good. Also, if anyone else has questions to ask, feel free. You won't hurt my feelings, I'm a big boy now, I can handle it. And, the explanation to why he doesn't want to use alternative voice methods is next chapter, when they become... actors.

* * *

><p>Shepard brushed stray strands of black hair back and over his head, staring in question and bewilderment at two gift wrapped boxes in front of him. They rested on the table counter top, safe to be in view since Tali was upstairs in bed for the night.<p>

Shepard had reluctantly skipped a night of lovemaking with his wife, to wrap her jeweled ornate gift for her special occasion, whatever it might have been. Shepard liked to call their encounters, Tali-whacking, but never did he dare mention it to Tali, lest he risk her wrath._ I wonder what Kasumi got her?_ Shepard thought, scratching at his head, and staring at the similarly wrapped gift next to his._ I wonder if it says what occasion it's for inside the box? I suppose... I could open it, and wrap it again, just to find out why the gift was given. _Shepard took a look around the dark room, a single and dim light illuminating the kitchen from above the island counter. He spotted no Tali in the vicinity, and reached for the gift.

He placed the tips of his fingers inside a nook in the wrapping, going to tear it open, but he hesitated._ No. This is too easy, and is sort of cheating. If Kasumi can remember what special occasion is today for Tali, then so can I._ He lightly tossed the gift back to it's place, and began to ponder the endless reasons for giving his wife a gift. _But then again, if it is her birthday, she's never told me when she was born, so I can't be held accountable for not getting her a gift. And I shouldn't be stressing over it this much, especially if it is her birthday. She probably told Kasumi when she was born, and I'm almost one hundred percent sure she's never told me before, so... this is hard._

He gave a long and tiresome sigh, then proceeding to their sink to keep him awake with a dose of cold water. He turned on this sink, set to cold, cupped a large pool of water in his hands and splashed it at his eyes. Shaking his head like a wet dog's, letting droplets fly down to the counter, he was more awake now. _I mean, how mad can she be at me, if I don't know what it's for? I still got her a gift, and a damned expensive looking one at that. I'm sure I can work a little Shepard charm into the mix, soften her up a bit before I let her know I have no idea why she deserves the gift. _He made his way to the counter, taking a seat in a stool next to it, and looking down at the gifts in a strange desire to know what was in Kasumi's.

_Nah, screw that, I need to find out what's inside that thing._ He thought, dashing a hand for the present and tearing it open in seconds. He had a sly smile on his face, now that he could be the first to see Tali's gift, and see if it was better than the one he got for her. His smile quickly turned to an open mouth mixed with a frown, his eyebrows both raised what felt like several inches in a weird combination of shock and humor. He was looking at a box, colored pink, and labeled, _Nerve-Stim Pro 9001._ "Hello..." He heard his wife's voice call to him from the door-frame in front of him.

She was standing in her robe, with her weight put on one leg, and her hands resting on her waist. Shepard quickly tried to compile all of the torn gift wrap back together, and threw it on top of the gift. He squirmed his hands on top of the gift and smiled at her, as if it wasn't there. "It's not her's..." Shepard heard a hardy and deep voice call to him. Wrex appeared to his left and snatched the box from the table, he held it in both of his hands, hording it for himself. "It's mine." He turned and left through their front door, cradling the gift, and petting it with a hand._ What the hell?_ Shepard thought, and blinked his eyes rapidly.

Between the blinks of his eyes, he saw the gifts sitting in front of him, wrapped and neatly placed. His head was laying on the counter, drool under his mouth that was pressed against the table. He lifted his head, and wiped the saliva from his lips. _Happy something._ He greeted her, holding his hands out to the two wrapped gifts in front of him. And he thought._ I've got some pretty weird dreams going on inside my head. _Tali took a seat in front of him.

"Do you know why we are supposed to be celebrating today?" She asked, tapping her foot against the floor, her elbows resting on the table, holding up her head. Shepard smiled, showing his straight white teeth, and gave his answer.

_You look pretty._ He held his hands out to her body to display it, and rested them in front of her. She smiled at him, and sat up straight in her chair.

"Well, thanks, I didn't do anything special today, just curl my hair." She said, running her three fingered hands through her wavy black hair that stretched down to her chest. "Wait a minute... answer the question." She grumbled, her face turning sour.

_We're celebrating today because..._ He mouthed, shaking his head at her and holding out a hand, as if he could grasp the answer from the air. _It's your birthday._ He said, clapping his hands together, leaning back in the stool, and waiting for a response to his guess.

Her frowning face changed to a hearty smile, as she reached her hands forward to hold his, while shaking with joy. "I knew you wouldn't forget! I just knew it!" She said, pinching tight her fingers against his.

Shepard's face was a smile, the same as Tali's, but with her latest words his face turned blank. He just stared at her for a while, watching her look at him deeply in love, and felt some shame and disappointment in himself for lying to her. _I forgot Tali._ He admitted, his comment confused her, making her smile disappear from her face. _I just guessed._ She pulled her arms back to her chest, and rested them in her lap. A half smile reappeared on her face, and she tried to hide it by looking away at the gifts.

"At least you were honest about it." A full smile appearing as she saw the gift wrapped boxes. "But at least you got me something." Her hands bolting for one of the gifts. "To my wife, from her husband... I wonder who this could be from?" She said, smiling, and shaking the gift in her hands gently to hear the sound of it rattling inside. He tensed and reached his hands out in a warning, not wanting her to hurt it.

_I don't think it would hurt it, but be careful._ She took the warning seriously, and delicately laid the gift on the table, pulling the gift wrapping off slowly. A white box revealed under the wrapping, the lid loosely fitting it. She picked the lid off and threw it behind her abysmally. Her expression was of shock and wonder, taking the necklace in her hands and staring at the purple jewels.

She started to shake in her seat, holding the necklace in front of her eyes, staring fixedly on it. Shepard cocked his head at her, and squinted, holding a hand out. _Are you okay?_ He asked. She screeched a girly scream.

"Thank you- thank you- thank you- thank you, Shepard!" She inserted her head into the opening of the necklace, straightening it on herself, and pulling her hair out of it. She jumped out of her seat and ran for him, strangling him in a tight hug. "I love it! I love you!" Shepard laughed in response, and accepted the hug, placing his arms around her as well. She gave him a long kiss on the lips, and tugged on his shirt, trying to rip it off of him.

He pulled away to admit something else, looking into her bright glowing eyes, her cheeks raised high in a wide smile. _It didn't cost much. Even though I wish it had._ He said, nodding to her. Her smile still covered her face, not fading by his news.

"I don't care if you got it for free! You got it for me, and that's all I care about!" She lunged at him again, hugging more air from his lungs. "And..." She said in a quieter tone, pulling away from him, but pulling him from the chair to stand with her. "You didn't lie to me, even though I never told you when my birthday was." She said smiling deviously.

_So, there was no way I could have known?_ He asked, looking almost insulted and betrayed.

"Mmm-mmm." She replied, shaking her head. "Kasumi thought you might just guess something random, and told me that no matter what you said, to say you were right."

Shepard stepped a foot away from her, to get a better look at his sly wife. _So it was a test? _She nodded, and he shrugged in a careless reply._ So... what's Kasumi's gift?_ He asked, piecing together the puzzle in his head. _The old man that gave me the gift from Kasumi was a deliverer. And Kal said that a delivery man gave him the necklace gift, and happened to say his boss told him to give it to anyone who asked for a gift for their wife. If his boss is Kasumi, and she did all of that to see if I'd lie to Tali, then she's a pretty good friend to Tali._

She just shrugged, and looked over to the gift with him. "Dunno, she didn't tell me. All she said was that if you lied to me, just so you wouldn't miss out on sex, that I should deny it from you for a few weeks." Shepard smiled at her, a sympathetic look on his face, and a look of doubt. "What? You don't think I could go that long?" She said, sounding smug and proud.

_I don't think you can go the rest of the day._ He said smiling, and placing a hand on her waist, and another tracing from her upper back, to the small of her back and lower. She shivered slightly and hummed with his touch, until she realized what he was doing.

"Oh no. You're not getting me that easily." She said, hesitantly pushing away from him and walking to Kasumi's gift. He sighed and longingly awaited her again. "Let's see what she got me." She said, pulling apart the plastic wrapping and looking at a colorful decorated box. Shepard dreaded for a moment if it was what it was in his dreams, if it was, then she could last much longer than a day without sex, but he couldn't. "How cute!" She squealed again, ripping the box opening apart, and pulling out it's contents.

She held the things out of Shepard's view. Shepard wasn't sure if there was actually a physical version of the Nerve-Stim Pro, since he thought it was only a program for an omni-tool, and he gulped as he hoped it wasn't a sex toy. She looked up at him smiling, still holding the things out of sight. _What is it honey?_ He said, giving a pathetic smile. _Nerve-Stim Pro 9001?_ He asked, making Tali burst into a small fit of laughter.

"A Nerve-Stim Pro, what? No, it's Normandy dolls!" She held up two plush dolls to Shepard. "Aren't they cute?" She asked, looking at the dolls closely. "Although I think they made me look fat." She humphed, turning the doll in her hands. "And you look old." She examined his toy doll.

Shepard walked around the counter to Tali's side again, looking down at the toys she held, a box full of others inside, all of their other companions. Tali raised the toy dolls to eye level, and began to act out a scene with them. "Oh Tali, you look so beautiful today." She said, trying to make her voice deeper and shaking the doll in her left hand because he was the one talking. "Well thanks Shepard, you look pretty hot yourself." She said, shaking the doll in her right hand and speaking her regular voice. "Wanna have sex?" She took her deep voice again, for Shepard's doll. "Sure." She ended with the Tali doll, and then started mushing the dolls against each other, rubbing them on each other with Shepard watching and smiling. Shepard took his finger under her chin, and brought her sight to him.

_You look fat, because that's Grunt._ He took the toy from her hands and held it closer to her eyes. She blinked rapidly and started laughing.

"Sorry, I just made Grunt have sex with your doll. My eyes are all blurry from sleeping." He shook his head at her.

_And I look old because that's Zaeed._ He said, taking the other toy from her, and letting her closely examine it.

She gave a few squeaky and girly laughs before talking again. "I think they'd make a good couple." Shepard just nodded to her and gave the toys back to her.

She stopped the toys from finishing their depiction of sex, and looked up to Shepard giggling._ You like playing with dolls?_ Shepard asked, still smiling lovingly at her. She found the actual Shepard and Tali dolls, with their likeness mostly accurate, and set them by each other on the table.

"I like playing with you." She dropped the other toys back into their box, and poked Shepard's nose with her finger. "You're as cute as me, you know that?" She said and giggled again. Her face turned serious while looking at Shepard who smiled back at her. "Will we be like this forever?" She asked, her smile vanishing from her face, and looking at Shepard for an honest reply to the question he only half understood. "I'm only 26 now, but 60 years from now? Are we going to be so clingy, and having sex all the time?" Her voice quiet and shy, waiting for an answer that she dreaded was a no, letting her eyes wander his face as she waited.

_In 60 years._ Shepard's smile was gone, but his eyes took the happiness from it, they smiled for his lips. _I'm not gonna stop, even when we're on our deathbed._

"But I'll be all wrinkly, and my hair will start to gray..." She doubted his answer, no longer looking at him, but ignoring his eyes and scanning the room shyly.

_So will I, you think humans don't age? You're gonna have to do a lot worse than a few wrinkles, and some gray hair to keep me away._ The clarification of his answer made her smile again, making him smile now. He ran his hands along her black hair, and another hand traced along her arm. _Now, what do you say we pick up where the dolls left off? Except, with our actual selves this time, not Grunt and Zaeed._ He nodded to the box full of toys, and then to the ceiling in the direction of their bedroom. He started roaming his hands on her body again, in the same spots as last time.

"Say please." She taunted, rocking from left to right in his arms, and giving a suggestive smile.

He sighed and gave in. _Please._ Rolling his eyes and looking around the room awkwardly.

"Okay, let's go." They both smiled at each other, and Shepard had one more thing to add.

_Told you, you couldn't last a day._

"Shut up, bosh'tet. You couldn't last a day either. It takes two people to have sex, Shepard." She slipped the necklace off, and set it around the look-alike doll. "Lil' Tali can hold my jewelry for me." She held his hand lightly in hers, and led him up the stairs.

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong> So the movie is probably going to be next, even though I said it was 2 months away at first. Skipping two months of their lives would probably leave out some major events, even though all they do anymore is smile, laugh, and sex. I think the spelling is good for this chapter, but I'm not sure if it reads fluently, and makes sense. Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think.


	7. Fleet and Flotilla Three

**Note:** So this is a pretty big one, almost 9000 words, hope you like it. I made this pretty quickly, possible spelling mistakes, hopefully their not to bad if they're there. Also, I know I said there'd be no real schedule for these, even though I've been releasing a chapter every four days it seemed, I decided to put this one out quicker, just because I can.

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><p>Shepard and Tali were flying in their car, low to the ground, heading to the Fleet and Flotilla movie set. Tali was driving their car, since Shepard didn't have his license to drive on Rannoch yet. She slowly bounced and rocked in her seat, patting her hand on the steering wheel as she listened to music. Shepard had his arm resting on the open window frame of his side of the car, letting Rannoch's air brush against his face as he scanned the ground under them. "I've never acted before." Tali began a chat, turning of the music coming from the center of the car and glancing at Shepard. She wanted to look nice for meeting the director of the movie trilogy she adored, so she put on some makeup, a dark blue dress trimmed with purple; The dress had small sleeves wrapping the top of her shoulder, a purple cloth tie that wrapped around her waist, and it's length only reached to her knees.<p>

Shepard just pursed his lips and nodded. "Is it hard?" She asked, glancing over for a few seconds while driving. Shepard shrugged, because he wasn't sure himself if acting was hard. "Hmm... I assume it comes natural to some. I wonder what characters we'll be? They'll probably just have us be ourselves, since we're famous enough already." Shepard nodded slowly a few more times, feeling unsettled due to not knowing how he'd act, without having a voice. Tali caught on to his odd behavior and questioned it. "What's wrong?" He shook his head, and turned to stare out the window. "Is it because of your voice? You don't know how they'll make it work?"

He nodded to her, and turned to see her, his face a frown and upset. Tali didn't need makeup to make her look pretty, she was pretty enough on her own, doubtless she wanted the makeup on. She had a purple lip gloss on, a light brown shade of blush, and dark eyeliner around her large glowing orbs that made them pop more than usual. "You'll be fine, just remember, you're doing it for me. That should hold you off until we're finished. And, we're getting paid a lot for it." She ended, clicking her red tongue and turning her attention to the empty air in front of them.

She waited a few seconds in silence, thinking to herself, before speaking again. "You know... Now that I think about it, there's always several relationships in the movies, I wonder if we'll be together?" She said, her face fretting and nervous, with his the same. "I'm sure they'll keep us together, they know we're married, it'd be weird if we had to act with different partners." She said, her tone suggested she didn't believe the words she said herself, and Shepard didn't believe it either.

* * *

><p>They flew in silence for the rest of the journey, until the came across a small complex of buildings, labeled with letters and the word studio. "Here we are." She said, still sounding nervous about if they'd have to act with different partners, and if they actually had it in them to fake being with someone else. "The message says we're to report to studio EA, the initials of the producing and directing company for the movie." She turned the ships direction to the described studio, and landed them in an empty space in front of a large garage door.<p>

They exited their vehicle and looked around the large studio complex. They saw krogans lifting heavy prop pieces and carrying them from building to building, and arguing over who was carrying more weight. A few male salarians dressed in skimpy pink underwear, practicing their script for some odd movie, and then yelling at each other for who was the better actor. A shorter and stumpier volus handing out creds to a few turian construction workers, and complaining about how they're running him dry of money. Everyone there seemed to be stingy, uptight, and generally bad people. "This place is pretty looking." Tali noticed, looking at the large gray buildings, decorated with prop pieces from several movies, and future movie posters. She clearly hadn't noticed the quality of the people around the pretty buildings yet however.

"Oh! Thank God you're here!" A lanky, gaunt, and balding but white haired man yelled jogging up to the duo of Tali and Shepard. "We're just about to start filming a scene without you two, so I have to be quick. Here are your scripts." He said, shoving a data tablet to each of the newcomers, and gave a quick smile. "Your trailer is over there." He pointed behind him to a small building built into the side of a set building. "If you decide to have sex in it, please have the common decent courtesy to clean up when you're done. Most of the actors and actresses here just bump and hump their rumps without cleaning up the place." Tali giggled at the tall old man, covering her mouth with a hand, and quieting to let him finish. He just turned and left them to their trailer, yelling at another cast member and running toward him.

"Well that was a quick encounter. I guess we should get to our trailer." She looked down at the script, examining it quickly, looking for one line in particular, if she was in a relationship with Shepard or not, in the movie.

_Agreed._ Shepard mouthed out of her view, and looked down to his script as well. They gave it a quick glance and proceeded to their room, dodging by the roads filled with crew, and cast members. They entered their trailer, the inside of it fancy and neat, despite the outside that made it looked cramped and old. Shepard nodded to himself, tossing his tablet down on a couch positioned against a wall, and facing a TV. The room was themed with browns and blacks. The couch was a brown, the fuzzy carpet under their feat was a tan, and any wood-like furniture was a dark brown. A few glass vases filled with pretty white, red, and blue flowers were on several end tables. And the black window curtains closed to give hardly any light to the beautiful room.

"This looks nice, right?" She said, smiling and nodding to Shepard. He returned the nod, and noticed a separate room down the stretch of the small house, a door slightly open, revealing a double bed. She noticed as well, and gave a lustful smile to Shepard. "Wanna bump, and hump?" She asked, brushing off the small sleeves of her dress, letting them rest at her arms, her dress slipping and only barely covering her breasts now. Shepard smiled and gave a breath filled laugh.

_Why do I even need a voice, when you can read my mind so well?_ He asked, receiving a smile and wave towards the bedroom as an answer. He walked with her into the room, and closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>It had been an hour since they arrived at the studio, and they had now settled in their beds and were in the middle of reading their scripts. The covers placed over their sparsely dressed bodies, as they laid on their backs next to each other, holding the data tablet up to their eyes. "It says here that you're my boyfriend... so that's good." She nodded to herself, and clicked the next page button on the tablet. "And... and it says here that a turian named, Oplio Epocus, is my friend who's overly attached and in love with me." She looked over to Shepard worried, wondering if she'd ever have to fake emotions with the turian Oplio.<p>

_You'll be fine, as long as there's no sex scenes, I won't hit the guy._ Shepard said, smiling and looking to his script. He continued to read through his script, until he noticed his potential love interest, another quarian.

"What is it!" She cried, ripping the tablet from his hands and scanning the words on the page. He pointed to a string of words that gave the information. She read it aloud. "I want you, Shepard. Says Rose'Finis nar Renbay, unbuttoning her tight fitting white shirt, to reveal her white bra and exposed skin... I don't like where this is going." She grumbled the last part, her hands tensing on the tablet she read the words from, and continued hesitantly. "She places a light kiss on his lips..." She read every word with spite and loathing for the girl she didn't even know, but continued again. "before being pushed away rather harshly by him, for he really did still harbor love for his girlfriend- aww... Shepard, that's so sweet, thank you." She softened her grip on the tablet, and embraced Shepard in a hug, who lightly pushed her back to her place on the bed while smiling.

_You're welcome, but you make it sound like that's already happened. Or, that it happened in real life... we're acting Tali, nothing more._ She seemed to understand only half of what he said, because she embraced him in another tight hug.

"I still don't think I understand the whole plot of this story, but I suppose all I have to do is read the words like they're on this tablet." She set the tablet down on a desk next to their bed, and threw the covers off of her to Shepard's side of the bed. She was standing naked, nearly out of his view, and holding a white robe in her hands. She seemed to be awaiting Shepard's glance, or for him to admire her body before she put on the robe. "Shepard?" She asked him, his eyes glued to the script he continued to avidly read. "I'm standing here... naked... and you don't seem to notice." She held her hands out at her sides, waiting his eyes, and he glanced over.

He looked from her head to toe, noticing all of her womanly features and parts, her more than large enough breasts, soft looking gray skin, and of course the wide hips he loved about her. He then began to notice the alien parts, like the black lines that traced her body in straight and curved lines, and then seeing the natural to quarian bend in her legs. The way she positioned her legs, had left her slit hidden from his view. He looked up to her smiling, and lightly shook the tablet in his hands. _We had sex a few minutes ago. And I already know every piece, every black line on your skin, every sound you've ever made._ He worded, shaping her body with his fingers, and letting his eyes trace the black lines he mentioned._ But, I don't know this script. I'd like to come out of this a pretty good actor, just for fun. Okay? _He finished, shaking the script in his hands, and smiling at her.

"Fine." She pouted, slipping on the white robe, with the letters EA on the back of it. She walked out of the room, her head held high, and nose pointed up in a snobbish way. Shepard smiled at her as she left, secretly getting a look as she walked away, watch closely as her hips swayed seductively, most likely without knowing she was doing it. He went back to reading the script, wanting to make a great actor out of himself, to add it to the list of many other things he's done.

* * *

><p>Another hour had passed it seemed, before a caller was at their door. He knocked intrusively and hard, battering on the door several times before speaking. Tali squealed at the surprising and intruding sound. "Eek!"<p>

"You're both up in a few minutes, report to your dressing rooms and you'll be directed to the set afterward!" The director's voice called, a dominant and groggy voice. Tali was sitting at a table with Shepard, passing the time with something other than sex. They were sitting at a small table for two, playing a variation of the card game poker. Tali had all of the chips stacked on her side of the table, leaving Shepard's side empty, and his body mostly naked. With the news of their time come, they had to quit playing strip poker, and dropped their cards to the table.

"Damn. Another game and I would have had you completely naked." Tali sighed, standing up from the table and walking to the door on the far side of their trailer. "Get dressed." She threw his clothes to him, that she had previously held, littering them on the floor, and leaving the house laughing like a maniac.

Shepard grabbed a fallen pair of jeans and slipped them on, scoffing at the spot she used to stand. _Yeah, you better run._ He said to himself, smiling afterward, and finishing dressing in his clothes. He stumbled out of the trailer, buttoning up his dress shirt as he exited, and gave a quick look around. Noticing again the studio's lands, and under it all, the gray-orange rock of Rannoch. It almost felt like they were on an entirely different planet, considering the vast assortments of people here, from hanar to elcor. The buildings looked far different than any he had seen in any quarian towns or cities. He scratched at his head and searched for his wife, scanning the zoo-like studio for any sign of Tali, and he saw her. She was being led in down a path with the tall director who was yelling to a companion of his that walked along side them.

Shepard jogged his way down to them, eventually catching up, only due to the slow pace the director walked at. He tapped Tali's butt with a hand, gaining her attention with a warning look, and a furrowed brow, thinking it had been a stranger who groped her. She raised her hand as if she meant to smack Shepard, but noticed it was him and instead lightly tapped his shoulder with it. _You hustled me?_ He asked, turning his head at her, and sticking his hands in his pockets as he walked.

She gave a quick laugh before answering. "I might have picked up a few lessons when watching you and Ken play, and if I recall, you hustled him as well." She said, tipping her head to him and smiling in remembrance of the time he cheated Kenneth.

_Fair enough._ Shepard said, nodding in agreement to himself and listening to the old director squabble with one of the crew members.

"No, I said to clear out studio 13, not studio 14 you fool. Hurry up and get it done, we're pressed for time today anyway! Go, go!" He yelled, and shoved the shy looking turian crew member away from him, who immediately began running to the studio number 13 it seemed. "Sorry about that, I've dealt with enough incompetence for the three of us today. Your dressing rooms are right there, Tali's on the left, Shepard's on the right. See you in about 30 minutes." He finished, quickly turning and leaving through an alleyway between two studios, yelling at a hanar who seemed to be trying to make off with a prop piece. "Give that back you pink bastard!" He yelled, running after the hanar with a team of security on his tail.

"Not what I had pictured for the behind the scenes of my favorite movie series." Tali said, shrugging and giving a joking smile to Shepard. He nodded in return, and gave a brighter smile back. "See you on the set boyfriend, hehe, haven't got to call you that in a while." She giggled, walking to her dressing room, which was a separate trailer from Shepard's dressing room.

Shepard walked to his dressing trailer, the blinding shine from the metal on top of the roof and the sun annoyed him, he shielded his eyes as he approached. Opening the door after stepping up the stairs, he was met with a short quarian woman, dressed in her envirosuit. "Hello." She said in a shy tone, keeping her eyes and face mask in general from seeing Shepard's. "Go ahead and sit down and we can get you started." She said, tapping a hand on a black cushioned chair in front of a mirror. Shepard did as he was bid, walking to the chair and slowly sitting in it, feeling another pain rise in his leg again.

His face grimaced with pain, eyes closing as he sat down, the shy girl spoke up as he looked hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." She said gingerly, holding her head and gaze to the ground, avoiding eye contact with him. He looked confused and tapped the arm of the chair to get her attention, she looked up to see his eyes through the mirror.

She seemed young, around Tali's age, but more naive. She wore a suit similar to Tali's, except the purple cloth Tali had, was instead a green for this girl, and her mask had an almost yellow tint to it. _You're fine. _He said, giving a strong and single nod to her, and smiling after.

"Okay." She said, sounding only a small percentage happier, and grabbing something from a table. "That reminds me." She held a small black wired device in her hands, shaking it gently. "This is so you can speak." Shepard gulped with her words, wondering what it would be like to have a voice again, and what Tali would think of it. "If I can just..." She said, moving the small black box and two plastic stringed thing forward, and over his chest. "Can you... unbutton?" She asked, waiting with the voice box in front of his chest. He nodded, and unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt, revealing his bare chest. She awkwardly placed the things on Shepard, sticking the wires on him, the ends acting like a suction cup, sticking firmly on him. "There." She said, stepping back several feet, holding her hands together and looking down shamefully.

He stood up and looked at her. "What's wro-" He began, hearing a choppy and ill sounding tone come from his throat. He held his neck for a second, thinking something was wrong, before she spoke up.

"It's supposed to sound like that. In the story you play a wounded war veteran, just like in real life, except you still have a voice, it's just harder than most peoples." She grabbed a pair of scissors, and a brush for his hair. "They want me to trim you up a bit, give you a military short cut." She said, lifting the tools to eye level. "Okay?" Her voice almost cracked, Shepard new there was something wrong with her, but wasn't sure if he should ask.

"What's wrong?" He asked again, the sound of his own voice starting to annoy him now.

"Well, I just always had a crush on-" He stopped her before she could finish, holding out his palm for her to silence.

"Okay, but I'm married, you're a nice girl and all, but-" He carried on, his voice vibrating in an annoying way, now being interrupted by her.

"Oh, no! I don't like you. Well, I mean, I'm sure you're a nice guy, but I'm not attracted to humans. Not that Tali'Zorah isn't a lucky girl or anything... oh Keelah. I... I like Garrus Vakarian, and I thought you could... Oh, I dunno, speak to him for me. It'd mean a lot to me."

Shepard gave a laugh to her, not liking the way his laugh sounded through the voice amplifier, choppy and robotic. "Do you know him, like in reality?" He asked her, sitting back in the chair for her to clip his hair down.

"I used to live on the Citadel, I saw him a few times when he was with C-Sec, we even talked once. I doubt he remembers me, but it'd be nice if you could at least, oh I dunno... you humans call it setting up." She said, clipping away parts of his long hair.

"Okay, I'll talk to him, try and set you two up." Shepard said smiling at her.

"Thanks! Now let's get you into your uniform." She said, backing away and running into the closet, pulling out a N7 officers uniform.

* * *

><p>Shepard was dressed fully in his outfit, leaving the dressing room with the quarian girl behind him, humming to herself, happy she now had a shot with the turian of her dreams. Shepard's outfit was an accurate representation of his old one, though it seemed a bit outdated, it felt just like his old one. He waited outside for Tali, until the director came along and grabbed his arms. "Come on war-hero, you can wait for your sweetheart later, she'll be at the set eventually." He argued, pulling Shepard away, considering Tali could possibly take an hour longer to get dressed.<p>

He made it to the set, dark around anywhere that wasn't meant for the movie. All it was, was a large room, several stories high, and all of the windows shuttered and closed. The director waved his hand to Shepard, leading him to the set. A few large lights illuminated the setting of the story, for Shepard, his first acting would start at a motel looking scene. A half built room, with a dark theme to it, purples, blacks, grays, and blues. A large clumsily made purple bed in the center, a few brown furniture pieces, black carpeting, and a small bathroom on the side. "Go ahead and take a set on the bed, Tali'l be here shortly I'm sure." The director said, patting Shepard on the back, and letting him venture on.

He had memorized his entire script, and the lines of the people he was talking to, spending most of the time he had, when not with Tali, reading. All of the years memorizing speeches for the military, and writing paperwork before he was an N7 gave him such a skill at remembering.

Shepard sat on the bed, straightening out his dress blues, and waiting for a job. He noticed Tali come in from the same large door he had, she wore a small but fancy dress. Her dress was purple and black, the bottom rippled with a thicker gold colored cloth, and only reaching mid thigh or her fingertip length. The neck of her dress revealed a large amount of cleavage, jiggling a little with each step she took, wearing shiny jeweled slip on dress shoes. She had purple ear rings in, a single purple bead in each ear, with a diamond shining in the center, that reflected the light of the room with a piercing glow. Her hair curly as before, and her bangs brushed over part of her eye. He noticed one thing in particular that stood out, the necklace he had got her, worn around her neck. She smiled at him, and pointed to his finger, at the gold wedding band he wore.

He smiled back, took off the ring and slipped it in a pocket, because as of now they weren't married anymore. The director said something to her, after taking a short stare, and pointed to the bed Shepard sat at. She came over and stood by him first, standing on her toes and gave a 360 view of herself to him, her hands running through her hair as she spun around for him to see. "How do I look?" She asked, receiving a smile and nod from him, drunk with her beauty to the point he didn't know what to say. She proceeded to sit on the opposite side of the bed. Shepard turned to see her, going to have a chat before the movie started. "Well... You look handsome." She said, her purple glossed hips curving in a larger smile.

"And you look beautiful." He said in the same mechanical and choppy voice. She blinked rapidly, gave a weird look at first but smiled eventually.

"Does it feel weird to talk now?" She asked, squinting at his throat, seeing a wire poke up from the shirt. He tucked it back in and answered with a shrug.

"Just the same as usual, except now there's sounds coming out."_ Annoying sounds._ He thought. He gave another stare to her, wanting to make use of the bed they sat on, but realized that they had around 50 eyes on them here.

"It's sounds fine, just a little groggy." She said, dusting off a spot on her dress and looking up to him.

"You really do look beautiful Tali. And you brought the necklace with you, I didn't even know." He said, his eyes studying her face and body. The necklace with it's large purple jewels was somehow more distracting than her breasts. "Also, I think I might have found Garrus a date." He said laughing afterward, and looking to the quarian girl who was be a table, serving food to people. She looked up at him, and waved like a little girl.

Tali's voice growled a sentence. "She seems nice... she didn't touch you did she?"

"Well she had to touch me, she did my hair and clothes and stuff." He laughed again, and saw the director send the camera man off to his camera, thinking it was time to start their scene.

"I don't like her." She growled again, sneering at the girl, who noticed and began to do more busy work.

"Oh quit it, she's just a girl. You're the only girl in my life, Tali." He said, patting her on the hand, and turned back to face away from her.

"I damn well better be." She taunted, shaking her head at him and making a mocking tone.

"You're on in ten seconds." A salarian crew member called out, moving to mount his camera position.

"You ready, my little actress?" He asked her, still facing the opposite way.

"I hope so, still a little nervous though." He took a look behind him, to see her fiddling with her fingers as she did when she was nervous.

"I can tell." He said smiling at her. She whacked his shoulder with a hand and they were on.

"Action!"_ Why not just say go?_ Shepard questioned before turning into his character.

He completely changed his physical stance, and played a tired tone, as was mentioned to be done in the script. He stretched his arms and rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles, looking around the room that was now a darker shade, since they turned out the lights. He turned his head to see his wife, turned girlfriend for the play they were reenacting, laying down and pretending to be asleep in bed. He stood up from the bed, turning his neck to pop it, and walking toward the bathroom. On his way, he grabbed a beer, filled with tea in actuality, and finished his walk to the bathroom.

A camera was inside the bathroom, pointing at him through a small hole in the wall. He didn't glance at it or even acknowledge it, and continued his job. He cracked open the beer, took a few sips of the tea and leaned against the wall with a hand. He faked peeing for a few seconds, pretended to zip up his pants and turned around. They would edit in a peeing sound after the movie was done, and maybe a zipping sound for his pants. He lazily tossed the glass bottle into the sink, letting it break and crash into pieces.

Tali jumped in fright, as was her part, but the fright almost seemed real. Shepard thought to himself, thinking back to a conversation he had with the director on the way to the studio. _No matter your feelings toward her, just understand it's all fake, acting. So, she'll understand if you don't seem yourself, because you aren't, you're a different version of Shepard. _He played out the chat in his head before talking to his girlfriend. "I see you're awake." He gave a careless tone, and rubbed at his nose.

"Yes, you scared me." She said, her voice high pitched but quiet.

"Yeah... you'll get over it." He gave a massive shrug and laid back down in the bed.

"We have to talk." Tali demanded, standing up from the bed, and looking down on her acting husband.

"About what? Oplio. I'm sure you'd _love_ to talk about him." He wrapped the covers up to his neck, and turned in the bed, facing away from Tali.

"You need to quit being so ignorant, and actually talk to me." He was unfazed by her words, as was instructed, and laid in bed covered in the purple cloth. "I'm you're girlfriend!" She yelled in a high tone, stomping her foot on the ground, and waiting for a response. This was the part Shepard had been indifferent about. It was a good thing to develop a character you might not like, to later have him redeem himself, but he wasn't sure if Tali was aware how well he was going to act at it.

He threw the covers off of himself, and quickly rose to his feet, in front of her in a matter of seconds. He stared down at her, and began to yell. "Yes! You are _my_ girlfriend, but, that doesn't stop you from whoring yourself off to that damn alligator face! You whore!" Shepard bellowed, a look of hate and loathing on his face, one he faked very well. He faked it so well in fact, and acted too real, that Tali took the words to heart. Her lips started to quiver, and her eyes began to pool with tears. His angry eyes and hard look disappeared, as he turned into the more loving and caring Shepard that Tali knew from the start of their relationship. "Tali... I." He began, which was not in the script, and made crew members exchange worried glances.

She pushed away from Shepard, walking away hastily, rubbing at her eyes with her three fingered hands. Shepard reached a hand out for her, but she was gone, and made it out the door before he could think of a way to explain his acting. "And scene! That was perfect!" The director yelled, running up to Shepard, and locking him in a hug. "Never have I seen such talent in all my life before! You should consider making this an actual job, sir!" The cameras were off, and people started to smile at each other, and immediately begin discussing the scene of the movie.

Shepard struggled from the man's grasp, ripping him off, and walking away to find Tali. "Go ahead and take a break for now, that was great, you got real talent kid!" The old man yelled to Shepard, who ignored most of his words, searching for Tali.

Before he could leave the studio to find her, he was stopped by two other people, a turian and quarian, man and woman. "Good job there, you really broke her heart." The turian man said, sounding spiteful but giving a sly smile.

"Oh stop it Aplus, she's just a drama queen." The quarian girl said, laughing at Tali. Shepard started to grow upset, until he realized they might have seen where she went.

"Do you know which way she went?" Shepard begged them for the information, looking outside to the bright lighted surface of Rannoch.

"Dunno." The quarian girl said, shrugging her shoulders and laughing again. She wore a much skimpier dress than even most asari would wear. She had short pink shorts on, if they were any shorter they would reveal her opening. A pink bra on, visible through the white cloth she wore over it. Her hair was black like Tali's but shorter, though it had a pink shine to it, no doubt the reason she wore pink clothing. Her nose small and pointed upward slightly.

The turian squinted at Shepard, no doubt he didn't care for the human. He was tall, strong looking, had white face paint that ran across and under the span of his eyes, and a gray armored suit on, similar to the C-Sec armor. Both their voices cocky, and full of resentment, not for Shepard in particular, but for the world around them, and everyone that walked it. "Thanks for the help." Shepard said, rolling his eyes at them, and taking off for his trailer.

* * *

><p>He arrived to find Tali, sitting in their bed, with the cover wrapped around her, crying into it. Shepard felt his heart snap in half, and gave a hateful and resentful sigh, not to Tali, but to himself, for making her cry. He walked through the main room, and into their bedroom, taking a seat next to her. "Tali?" He asked her, placing a hand on her back. "I'm sorry, it was just acting, I didn't mean any of it." He pleaded, rubbing her back, she didn't hesitate, but she continued to cry.<p>

"I- I- I- know She- hepard. I ju- just ne- never her-heard you say that wo- word to me before." She said, only barely audible because she talking into the sheets she cried into. Shepard tried to talk, but chocked on his own words before speaking. "It wa- was su- su- so real, I've ne- never seen you like that be- before." She looked up to him, tears streaming down her face.

"Come on, Tali. If you keep it up, you're gonna make me start crying." He said, half joking and half serious.

"I know, I'm ju- just being silly, bu- but I didn't know how to take it." She wrapped her arms around his neck, crying softer into his shirt.

"Tali... I'm not the man I'm pretending to be." Was Shepard's simple response. She shook her head into his body, still crying.

"Mmm mmm." She denied, not speaking actual words.

"I love you, Tali. No matter what that Shepard says, I love you. Okay?" He said, rubbing her back with a hand, and her head and hair with another. She didn't speak, but nodded her head into him. "Remember what I said, about you being beautiful?" She nodded into his neck again, and whimpered more words.

"I'm crying, my face is all ugly, and I messed up my hair. I'm not-" She continued until being interrupted by her loving husband.

"You are beautiful, Tali. Even now, you are beautiful. You don't need makeup, jewels, or even that dress to make you pretty." She smiled through her tears, and they seemed to stop with his words, they calmed her and made her feel loved again. "In fact, you don't need any clothes at all to make you look good." She laughed at that, and bashed his chest with an open palm.

"I'm okay now. Thank you." She said, placing a light kiss on his lips, and standing up from the bed.

* * *

><p>They had a few more scenes throughout the days they were there, until they were near completing the movie. Tali had a separate scene to do, so Shepard stayed in the trailer, reading into more of his script. Shepard's character had gone through a transformation, along the span of the movie, so he didn't seem like such an asshole anymore. Shepard and Tali had a few more scenes together since she cried, and she seemed better, smiling and laughing at things Shepard's character said that were funny, even when she wasn't supposed to laugh. Now that Shepard's redemption arc had started, he was finally glad to be playing a character who more resembled him, rather than the drunken fool he was playing before.<p>

Shepard easily found it boring in his house, with no Tali to fill it with him, so he thought he might take a walk and see some of the odd people that populated this place. He thought he might go talk to the quarian girl, Zumo'Suram vas Zudir, the one he was going to set Garrus up with. She was a nice girl, once she wasn't fretting over if Garrus would like her or not, she could be good company to talk to. Shepard opened the door to their trailer, stepping down a few stairs and was met with a quarian girl. He thought for a second if it was Zumo unsuited, but she was far taller, and move positive looking than Zumo sounded.

"I want you Shepard." She said seductively, placing her hands on his chest, and smiling at him.

Shepard smiled back at her and laughed. "I don't think now is a good time to practice the script. I was just going to go on a walk, I suppose you could come if you wanted." Shepard said, removing her hands from his chest. This was the other actress on set with them, the one who tries to get with Shepard's character.

"I suppose you're right..." She looked down to the ground and kicked Rannoch's dirt lightly with her foot. "I think I'd rather lie down though, it's tiresome out here, in Rannoch's burning sun." She placed the back of her hand on her forehead, flickering her eyes as if she'd faint. She was wearing the same attire as last they met, her pink underwear, only covered by a thin white shirt.

"Go ahead, you have a trailer of your own, and I assume you have a bed." Shepard said in a monotone voice, now realizing she had different intentions for him.

"I'd much rather prefer your company." She bit her lower lip and winked at him.

He rested his hands on his waist, and laughed, looking at the ground then up to her. "You're an attractive woman, to some men, hell maybe even to other married men, other less loyal men, but not to me. You won't find it so easy to crawl into my bed, as you would a celibate." He stared blankly at her, making sure she knew there was no chance, and waiting for her to turn and leave, or at least he hoped she would.

"Come on, you don't really want her, she's just your first quarian girl. It's easy to get attached to your first, we are a pretty species, I-"

He cut her off. "There's a fine line between pretty, and whore." He gave a small smile after he said it, feeling a slight sense of pride at his insult, and seeing her face sour for a second and sweeten right after.

"Don't be like that, she's just a girl, and I'm a woman." She said, moving her hands to cup her breasts, and push them together. "She doesn't have things this size." She twisted her body in front of him, shaking her breasts in front of his gaze. They were larger than Tali's, but that wasn't going to change his mind, neither did it budge his sexual drive, he still felt nothing for her.

"Honestly, if I had to cheat on Tali with someone, I'd rather pick the director." Shepard smiled sarcastically as he spoke, earning another offended look from her.

She licked her lips, pink lipstick on them, and made a kissing sound at Shepard. This girl had a thing for pink, the same way Tali had a thing for purple. _Tali really doesn't have a thing for purple I suppose, she looks great in it though, hell she looks great in anything or nothing._ As Shepard thought about his wife, the girl made a move on him.

"I bet she doesn't do this for you." She leaned forward, kissing him on the lips, leaving a pink smudge on his lips, and her hands unbuttoning his trousers. She didn't have time to reach the zipper before he pushed her off, never going to know what exactly it was that Tali couldn't apparently do for him. He grabbed her by the wrists, and slammed her against the trailer wall. No one around them seemed to notice or care, to busy doing their work, running around the studio with too much work and stress to notice them. "I like it when guys play rough." She bit her lower lip again.

"You listen to me-" Shepard began in an angry whisper, before hearing a whimpering sound behind him. He turned around, letting go of the girl, to see Tali. She was staring in question at Shepard, her eyes and body language telling Shepard she was hurt by what she saw. "Tali." He held walked closer to her, but stopped when she back up twice the amount of steps he took. He quickly wiped off the pink makeup remnants the girls kiss had left on his mouth."Tali come on, it's not what it looks like." Tali ignored him, turned and left, walking speedily away, her face furious.

"Now that she's gone, and probably going to divorce you, why can't we have a little fun?" The girl behind him tempted, pulling on her white shirt, jutting her breasts out to Shepard.

Shepard pointed a finger at her, fuming with anger and resentment toward her. "You stay away from me and Tali." He eyed her for a second, she thought nothing of it at first, and continued to rub at her body sensually until she saw something else in him. His eyes unblinking and not moving, concentrated on her, his lips tight and teeth grinding beneath them, he brow sharp and twitching with anger. She gave a look of fear, almost of if she was about to die, and slowly edged her way away from him._ It's bad enough when I upset Tali, but if she think I betrayed her, then she might not trust me again, she might not even want to see me again._

He wandered through the studio, looking for his wife, possibly soon to be ex-wife if he didn't explain in time. He saw her walk into the studio again, maybe she had another scene to do, or just wanted to escape him for a while. "Damn it, Tali." Shepard grumbled, chasing after her at a walking pace, feeling another pain in his leg, the one that came and gone at the worst possible times. He entered the large studio slowly, looking around the masses of people for his wife, and he saw her. She was on the set going to begin a scene, just as he though.

He made his way through the crew and cast members until he made it to her, being stopped by a security guard. "Sorry sir, their about to start filming." A large krogan said, holding Shepard back by his chest with a large krogan hand. Shepard heard the man, but none the less wished he could walk onto that set right now and set things straight. He figured she might actually want to do this scene, so he didn't dare interrupt it and anger her more. He sighed and looked around for a seat, not leaving until she was finished, so he could talk to her. He saw a seat next to the director, empty, so he took it.

"Alright we're about to begin!" The director yelled, his voice stinging Shepard's ears. Shepard closed his eyes, feeling a headache come on, and scooted a little further away from the old man.

"Action." Another crew member said, a light turning on the camera when he finished.

Shepard didn't remember this scene, considering he usually only read the scenes that had him in it. At this time in the story, Shepard's character is just returning from another mission the N7 sent him on, but isn't supposed to be in the scene. This was also the point, when the turian Oplio tries to persuade Tali to leave Shepard. "Tali, I've known you ever since we were kids on the citadel. I helped you, my father took you into our store and gave you work. I've cared for you since before I knew you, and you deserve better than that human." He moved a foot closer to Tali, placing his hands on her upper arms, squeezing light at her skin.

"I- I know Oplio, but he proposed to me, we're going to get married. You've cared for me as long as I've known you, but I just don't care for you like I do him. I'm sorry." She said, her voice barely louder than a squeak.

"Tali, please, I know you love me, you're just hiding your emotions. Don't hide them." He ran his talons along her hair, and another hand down her side, exploring her body with his turian hands. He moved a hand to her rear, squeezing it with his hand, making her yelp silently. His other hand gliding closer to her breasts. Shepard's face twitched in anger, understanding it was a movie, and the actor didn't really want to touch her, but the character did.

Shepard still didn't like it, and questioned the director in a whisper. "Is this a damn fornax porno, or an actual movie?" Shepard grumbled, clenching his fists so tight that his finger nails dug into his palm.

The director laughed and hushed himself. "No, it's a movie, he's just improvising." Shepard's eyes snapped to the turian, touching Tali and smiling while he did it.

"What?" Shepard hissed, biting his tongue and staring in hate at the turian.

"Oh yes, he's a great actor, to improvise like that, he's not actually supposed to touch her. All he's supposed to do is try for a kiss, and then she pushed him away, but this is better in my opinion." He said, leaning back in his chair and smiling as the actor and actress continued their jobs, although there was something wrong with the actress. Tali's fingers were dancing on each other again, and she shivered when the turian touched her. Not the shiver she gave when Shepard touched her, that was made of warmth, love, and passion, this was a shiver of fear, loneliness, and coldness. Shepard knew what the finger thing meant to, it meant she was uncomfortable one way or another, though when she did it with him it usually meant she was nervous about talking to him, this meant she was nervous about being around the turian.

"Yup, indeed, he is a great actor." The director continued on, not noticing Shepard no longer sat next to him. "Where'd he... oh shit..." Shepard was stomping onto the set, fast enough to make it on set before the guards could stop him. Shepard might have let it go, if Tali had looked comfortable with it, but her reaction was most of what drove him out here onto the set. He made his way behind the man, and tapped him on the shoulder, gaining Tali's attention as well. She was looking around uncomfortably, until Shepard appeared, a smile formed on her face. _I'll improvise for ya._ Shepard thought as he stood behind the man.

The man turned in surprise to see who the third partner was, and found Shepard with his arm cocked back and lunging forward at him. Shepard coldclocked the man to the floor, twisting in his position and crumbling to the ground. Tali's smile grew and facial expressions changed, at first surprised that Shepard had punched the man, but glad the turian was gone now. Shepard shrugged and smiled to her, hearing security try to enter the set. The director yelled them off. "Stay the fuck out! This is movie gold!" The director yelled, readjusting himself in his seat and smiling wider than Tali and Shepard.

"But sir, what about Aplus?" A crew member questioned him, holding the camera.

"Fuck him, Shepard's a better actor by ten times." He threw his arms at the body of Aplus the actor, and Oplio the character, not caring about his well being.

"But he might be dead."

"Then he died in action, we'll send flowers to his family, now shut up." He ended, whacking his hands at all those who talked. They would edit out the talking later, the talking that made it to Shepard's, Tali's and Aplus' microphones.

_Acting, remember?_ Shepard asked her in a whisper, and gave a wink. She nodded, and played out the part of her character.

"You're back Shepard!" She wrapped him in a loose hug, her wrists resting around his neck, as she leaned back and looked up to him. He wrapped his hands around her waist, and laughed.

"Yes I am." He said, moving forward and placing a kiss on her lips. They might have gotten too caught up in the kiss, working tongue into the mix, and Tali gave a quiet moan. They both heard the director giggle like a girl behind them, watching his movie magic play out. "I'm leaving the Alliance." Shepard said, as was his line for another time, but he worked it into this time. "So I can spend more time with you.

"Good." She replied, moving closer to him, and resting her head against him, wrapped in a tight hug. Another pair of footsteps could be heard approaching them, they looked up to see who it was. The other quarian actress stood in front of them, ignoring Tali and smiling at Shepard.

"Pretty good hit, he's out cold." She looked down to the man, not moving besides taking a few breaths. "Now what would you say to coming back to my place?" This line wasn't even supposed to be in the movie, and she did know that cameras were on, right? She moved a step closer to Shepard, but Tali interceded on his behalf, giving a false smile and raising her three fingered fist. She gave her the same treatment Shepard gave the turian, knocking her to the ground with a bleeding nose. "Ah!" She screamed, falling to the ground and holding her bleeding nose. "You- you- you-"

"Bosh'tet... yes, you are." Tali said, ignoring her and turning back to Shepard. She ran off the set, holding her nose covered in sticky red blood, and crying for her mangled nose.

Shepard wrapped his arms loosely around her waist again, and smiled wider than when he had hit the turian. "I love you."

"I know..." She smiled, and nodded her head. "I love you too." They heard the director whisper something from his seat.

"Hug... hug and kiss you magnificent bastards." Tears in the man's eyes, as he held a towel that had previously been wrapped around his chair, clenching it tight in his hands and using it to wipe tears away. Shepard and Tali didn't look, but were more than glad to oblige him.

Shepard and Tali did as he said, hugging and giving one last kiss before he screamed loudly. "Finished! Oh my goodness! It was amazing! Thank you so much!" He ran to them, wrapping his arms around both of them tightly, shaking them in his arms. The cameras turned off, and everyone began to discuss again, most of them bursting out into laughter, either at the director, the turian, or the crying girl who left some time ago.

"You're welcome." Shepard said laughing, and wriggling in the mans arms.

"I'm sorry." He said laughing like Shepard, and released the couple. "Somebody clean up this!" He yelled, pointing to the unconscious turian. He looked back to his star actor and actress. "You're free to go now, I'll send your pay in the mail, and I might even throw in some extra bucks. I'll also send a copy of the movie when we're done with it." He said, patting them both on a shoulder with his hands. "I have never been more happy in my entire life as a director than now, thank you." He said again, more tears clouding his eyes before he turned and left to his office.

"I think he liked it." Tali said, holding onto Shepard's arm and walking out of the studio with him.

"I think he-" Shepard closed his eyes in annoyance at his own voice, and ripped the wires from his chest, and threw the box to the ground.

"What's wrong?" She said, looking confused between him and the voice maker.

He stopped in the middle of the road outside the studio, between many busy people running the road. He hesitated before speaking, thinking of the exact reason he didn't like the voice. _Tali... I'm starting to forget what I used to sound like._ Her lips pursed and eyes widened in a type of shock, not fully understanding what it would be like to not remember what you sounded like._ My voice is dead, I'm not replacing it, before I lose completely my memory of what my voice used to be._ She nodded to him, and gave a sympathetic smile. _I don't need this to communicate with you. Because... _He said smiling._ Actions speak louder than words._ He wrapped his arms around her in another hug, and kissed her for the third time today, she yelped at the surprise and leaned into it.

"You're right." She said, parting from him, keeping her grasp on his shirt. "That says it all. Now let's get out of here, it'll be good to go back home after the week we've been here." She said, locking hands with him, and walking back to their car parked by their studio trailer.

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong> So I felt kinda bad about making Shepard say that, even though it was all acting, it was sad to make Tali cry, poor girl. It all turned out fine in the end, ending with two bloody faces. Tell me what you thought.


	8. Remember Our Wedding

**Note:**When Shepard was talking to the hair-dresser lady, and said something like _It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong._ I understand that more than around three words would be hard to lip read to someone who isn't good at it, so I went back and shortened it to a, _It's fine._

Also, any time there's italics, and something after that says Shepard said, worded, or mouthed, it just means he's, like it says, mouthing the words. I just tried to come up with some synonyms instead of mouthed and worded all of the time, so if it says Shepard said from here on out, it means he mouthed it.

Also, I'm not sure if those black line thingies on Tali have a name, so for now, they're black line thingies. Finally, this chapter jumps just a day in time, so now they're back at their home and settled in, and it's kinda a flashback chapter. I thought about making this just another one-shot, with a different Shepard, instead of using it in this story, but... what the hell, this is just a big mess of one-shot-like things anyway. I've only seen a few wedding stories with Tali and Shepard, and some honeymoon ones, so here's my depiction of their wedding. Here we go.

* * *

><p>Tali was in their bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror, with Shepard in the other room laying down and fast asleep. There was some white-clear, and sticky looking liquid on her face, covering her cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead. She looked down to the counter and sink, holding a bottle of quarian soap in her hands. It was empty and shriveled up, she sighed and tossed it into the trash on the side of the sink. She began to rub the soapy liquid into her skin, until it was bubbled and thin. With a splash of water she rinsed her face off, and walked back to Shepard in the bed.<p>

She crawled in beside him, pulling part of the cover from him, and wrapping her mostly naked body inside with him, carefully trying to not wake him. He turned in bed to look at her, tired and lazily smiling. "We're out of soap." She sighed, upset she woke him and upset she was out of her favorite soap.

He shrugged. _It's just soap._

"Yes, but it makes me smell good. Maybe I could buy you some different human soap." She suggested, pursing her lips, a smile breaking through.

_What's that supposed to mean?_ He asked, pulling her closer to him, within a distance that she could smell his breath.

"It means... you stink." She smiled largely at him, and nuzzled her head into the pillow to hide from him. He let go of her, gaining her attention. "You disagree?" She said, pinching her nose with her fingers, and smiling again.

_I think it's just your upper lip you're smelling. Maybe you stink._ He said, happy with his joking insult and turning to face the ceiling, lying on his back.

"Excuse me Mr. Bosh'tet, I smell like pretty flowers." She pulled some of her long black hair to her nose, and inhaled the smell. Then she pushed the smooth long strands of hair at Shepard's nose.

He batted her hair away from his face and replied. _Yes you do, Mrs. Bosh'tet._

She giggled a few times, before moving to turn off the lamp on her desk. Before she turned it off, she noticed a picture sitting with the black ceramic lamp, a picture of her and Shepard. She smiled at it, grabbing it from the desk and holding it in front of her eyes as she turned back to Shepard. "Remember when we got married? Boy, was that chaos." She smiled at the picture of her and her husband, Shepard in a black suit and pants, white shirt, and black tie; She had on her envirosuit, save the helmet, with white cloths wrapped around her, and a long skirt from her waist until it touched the red carpet under her feet.

_Of course, how could I forget it, especially after how bad it went?_ Shepard put a hand on the picture, moving it to be in view of his own eyes.

"Trust me, it was worse on my side." She said, laughing a deep laugh and nodding at the picture. An arm of Shepard's wrapped around her waist, and both of hers around his chest, hugging each other tight and smiling for the picture that was taken.

Shepard looked to Tali, who in return looked back, and asked her to recall that day. _I don't think you ever told me about your time at the church, how'd it go?_

She sighed before speaking, a look of pity for her former self in her eyes, thinking back to the time. "It started with my bridesmaids."

* * *

><p>"I don't know... I think you should lose the helmet completely, just wear a veil." Kasumi said in her typical cool and calm voice, resting her hand on Tali's shoulder, as she sat in a chair and viewed herself in the mirror.<p>

"You girls have never seen me without my mask before... if I do this, please don't laugh." Tali said in a shy tone, placing her hands on some straps and hatches on her suit's helmet.

"Why would we laugh." Miranda still laughed, sitting down in a chair on the far side of the room, her legs crossed over each other as she watched Tali fret over her helmet.

Kasumi bolted her head to Miranda, staring through the darkness of her hood, the whites of her eyes narrowing at Miranda. She looked back to Tali, smiling a bright smile that soon disappeared. "Did Shepard laugh at you when he saw your face... I like the guy, but I wouldn't mind cloaking myself and messing with him a bit. Maybe I could go out there and pants him, or kick him in his-"

"No that's okay Kasumi, thanks though." Tali tried to hold back some laughs, but they escaped her mouth, Kasumi laughed in response to hers. "He treats me nice, he loves me, and I love him. Otherwise we wouldn't be getting married."

"You know, I could let you borrow one of my suits. I'm sure it'd fit you, and you could wear that for the wedding, and even keep it if you wanted." Miranda suggested, looking out a window to the church's driveway, where her car was. "I've noticed Shepard staring at me in it a few times before. It was before you guys were together though, so don't worry." Miranda shrugged, looking down at herself and her tight fitting suit on her body. _How could he have been looking at her, we met her two years after Shepard and I were together? We got together before we killed Saren, and she said she's seen him look at her, he wouldn't do that too me. Would he? He wouldn't look at other women, he's not that type of man. Miranda, well, nobody knew we were a thing before the collectors came, nobody knew what I went through when he was gone._

"That's a load of bullshit." Joker said, walking into the room that was meant for bridesmaids and the bride only.

"Joker!" The girls screamed in unison, Tali's scream squeaky and quiet. Kasumi screamed as if she'd beat Joker into a pulp for being in the room. Miranda more questioned than screamed, wondering about his claim of bullshit. Ashley's was also a question, that came after the other screams, as she was in the closet looking for clothes for Tali. Liara gave a more annoyed greeting, and soon returned to being her calm and quiet self.

"What are you doing here, Joker?" Kasumi grumbled, standing in front of Tali so she couldn't see Joker, in case he was trying to do recon for Shepard, as he was not to see Tali before the wedding.

"Um... Shepard and the guys kicked me out of their group, they said I was being too weird, and that I should take a walk." He said in a quiet and slurred voice, kicking his shoes against each other and looking at the floor in shame. "Anyway, I heard what you guys were talking about, and wanted to show you this. I had it... for militarily important purposes, of course." He had on his wrist, an omni-tool, the same he had gotten after the war had ended. He held it up to Tali, after Kasumi grudgingly stepped aside. He scrolled past a few files and searches, Tali got a peak at a few of them, being labeled: EDI sexy pictures. How to ask an AI out on date? And, Normandy Surveillance Files.

He brought up the surveillance clips, skipping to one in particular, of Shepard pacing in his cabin. "Lemme just turn up the audio." He tapped a button on the tool, bringing Shepard's voice out. "Remember, this is back when we're defeating Saren." He played the rest of the tape out.

Shepard continued pacing the span of his bed, talking to himself, in a quiet and hushed tone. "So, she doesn't already have a boyfriend. Plus. She's a badass fighter. Plus. She's as cute as a button. Plus. She's attractive, at least her body is." He stopped pacing, and started scratching at his chin. "I wonder what she looks like behind that mask, or, what the rest of her looks like?" He shook his head back and forth violently, and continued pacing. "Anyway... those are all pluses. Now, what the hell is stopping me from asking her out?" He said loudly, holding his hands out at his sides, and releasing a long sigh. "Why is it so hard?"

"This is where it gets good." Joker said. Tali hushed him immediately, pulling his arm closer to see the rest of the vid.

"You know what? I'm just gonna to do it, screw it if she says no. I'm not a puss, I can do this." Shepard said, fist pumping in the air as he walked out of his cabin.

"That's the end." Joker said, pulling his arm roughly from Tali's tight grip.

"But... he didn't ask her out, because they got together when we were fighting collectors." Kasumi said, turning her head in question at Joker.

"Yes, he did." Tali admitted, earning surprised looks from all of the rooms inhabitants. "He asked me then, but, we just kept it quiet for a while."

"But... that means that he was looking at Miranda while you two were still together." Liara pointed out the obvious. Kasumi's eyes narrowed at the hall outside their room, and her fists tightened in a deadly ball of spite.

Miranda's eyes widened, as she stood up and approached Tali, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tali." She said, as if someone had died, but part of Tali died with the news that Shepard was looking at other women. Am_ I not enough for him, does he want other women. Has he been with other women while we were together?_ Tali's thoughts continued to wonder, as did Kasumi, right out the door without Tali or most of the others noticing. _Maybe we're not ready to get married. I don't want to get married to him, especially if he'll just want to be with other women. Maybe it's different for humans, maybe when you're married, it's okay for the males to sleep with other females. But, the expressions of Ashley, and Miranda say different._

"Wait a second. I wasn't finished." Joker said, holding up the omni-tool to his eyes, and finding another vid. He held it out to Tali, smiling as he did so, and glancing at Miranda with a sly and mocking smirk.

Another vid popped up, with Shepard walking to Engineering, but being cut off by Miranda. She stepped in front of him, holding a data tablet in her hand. "Shepard, I was wondering if you could give me your view of the mission you just went on, for my report to Cerberus?" Shepard looked surprised and annoyed by Miranda. The view from the camera was directly behind Shepard and Miranda, with Tali in the distance, working on a control panel in Engineering.

"Yeah, sure, I'll get that done soon." Shepard mumbled, clearly looking past Miranda to see Tali working her daily rutine.

"I'd rather just get the report from you now, since the mission is still fresh in your memory, so-" Miranda said, typing something into her data tablet, and being cut off by John.

"Sure, Garrus is right over there." Shepard mumbled again, nodded his head behind himself to where Garrus was cleaning his gun, and shoving his thumb behind him to the turian.

"I didn't want to talk to Garrus." She said, hurt that Shepard was ignoring her.

"You call!" Garrus yelled out to them, looking up from his rifle, as he sat on a crate.

"No! I'm talking to Shepard." Miranda yelled in an annoyed tone.

"Suit yourself." Garrus went back to his cleaning.

Miranda's expression changed to a witty smile, as she thought she caught Shepard's eyes where they shouldn't be. "Were you looking at my breasts?" She asked, playing an offended tone, but kept her smile.

"Yup. I'll tell Joker to get us to our next mission soon." Shepard mumbled again, looking past her from the view of the camera, to look at Tali doing her busy work. He pushed by Miranda, tapping her on the shoulder and moving by. "Tali." He said, walking up to her, easily catching her attention.

"Hello, Shepard." Tali heard her own voice come from the omni-tool, and smiled once she realized Shepard was looking at her, not Miranda.

"See. Shepard's a good guy, and off the table. If you wanted someone to date Miranda, I heard Grunt is still looking for a bond-mate." Joker said, pulling his arm back and smiling mockingly at Miranda again.

"Ha, ha." She faked her laughs, rolling her eyes at Joker. "I'm sorry, Tali. I thought he was looking at me, not that you aren't something to look at yourself." Miranda said, nodding to Tali's seated body.

"It's okay." Tali admitted, knowing Miranda was no threat to her relationship with Shepard, because now she could trust him no matter what he did. "And... do you have anymore files on there Joker? Any of me and Shepard in his room... together." She suggested, reaching her hand for his omni-tool. The girls around them understood her meaning and smiled.

"Yeah, she's right, you're pretty hot." Joker said, smiling sly, and looking like a fool as he ignored the question. Tali blushed behind her mask regardless, she had never heard another man beside Shepard admit to her that he thought she was good looking. "Now... how's the sex?" He said, raising his eyebrows at her, giving a cheesy smile, and waiting for an honest answer.

"Okay, bye bye." Ashley said, pushing Joker out of the door forcibly but slowly. "And lemme see this first." Ashley ripped the omni-tool from Joker's arm, scrolling through the list of files, going to delete some for Tali.

"Oh, come on, you're kicking me out too." He protested, whining all the while he was being pushed out by Ashley. She had him outside the door and in the hall, about to close the door. Kasumi sprinted in, pushing gently by Joker into the room, her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace.

"What happened to you, Kasumi? I actually didn't even notice you left. Where'd you go?" Tali asked in an innocent voice, looking up to her friend through her mask.

"Um... It doesn't matter, all that matters is that I've been in here all the while, okay?" She asked, stressed and taking a seat next to Tali.

"Okay." Tali said, laughing at her friend's odd behavior.

"I found it." Ashley said, her eyes widening as she accidentally clicked on the video. Moans of Tali's voice came from the tool, and a video popped up, one of the cameras from Shepard's cabin.

"Shepard... oh, Shepard..." Tali moaned in the vid. Ashley smiled at the video as she watched it take place, from accidentally clicking on it.

"No!" Tali squealed in a high pitched tone, ripping it out of her hands and turning it off, ending the sounds of her moans and Shepard's grunts. The video must have been from their first time, when Tali took a ton of medicine Mordin had given her to do the deed in safety. "Joker! You're a-" She yelled to Joker, who was probably still in the hall.

"Bosh'tet... yeah, I know... sorry about that, I was gonna delete it, I promise." He yelled, his voice echoing in the halls.

"So, anyway... how about that helmet, Tali?" Liara asked, stepping closer to the quarian bride, hiding a smile from the vid everyone heard playing a few seconds ago.

Tali blushed in embarrassment, throwing the omni-tool into the desk drawer she sat at, to collect later when the wedding was done. "You sure you want to see me? What if people laugh when I walk down the aisle?" Tali whispered aloud to her bridesmaids.

"Tali, your face is nothing to be ashamed of, some people are just blessed with more beautiful features than others." Liara added not helping much, though she probably meant well, staring sympathetically at Tali. _Shepard always said I looked pretty, or, beautiful was the word he used. I hope they think the same, or else Shepard was just lying to me._ "Besides, those are all of our friends out there, not randoms."

"Don't listen to them, Tali. You're pretty, now show them." Kasumi said, confident in Tali's looks, though she herself had never seen Tali either. She lowered Tali's white cloth hood.

"Okay." She nervously said, clicking the buttons, and turning the hatches on her suit to take off the helmet. She fiddled with it for a while, before the thing finally came off, and set it on the table by the mirror. "There." She squeaked in a girly shy voice, not smiling, but looking at the mirror at her friends who looked back. Their faces were all different. Kasumi smiled with pleasure, as if she knew Tali was beautiful behind the mask before it was off. Miranda's face looked doubtful, as if she thought Tali was better looking than herself. Ashley and Liara both looked shocked, turning their head at the mirror they stared at Tali through. "What do you think?" Tali's face turned less nervous at the sight of her friends faces, the consensus of them said they thought she was attractive.

"Wow." Miranda, Ashley, and Liara responded at the same time. Ashley stepped forward with a white veil in hand, a yellow circlet of flowers holding it together. Ashley cleared her throat and handed Tali the last piece to her suit. "Here."

"You look beautiful, Tali." Kasumi said, her hands clasped together in front of herself, and nodding for Tali to stand. "Let's go show everyone else how beautiful you are." Kasumi prompted her to stand, tapping the sides of her arms. Tali smiled at all of the words and complements she was given by her bridesmaids. Jack ran in through the door, leaning against it and talking to them while they were getting ready to leave.

"It's time bitches- wow... where'd Tali go, and who's that pretty quarian girl?" Jack asked, pointing to Tali, with her veil covering her face lightly, still easy to see through. Tali blushed again, and walked past her.

"Thanks, Jack." Tali finished the conversation, walking outside with her friends. Joker was still outside the room, waiting for them, and popping up from his sitting position when he saw them.

"Go time?" He asked.

Ashley nodded to him. "Go time."

"Nice. I'm so excited, I've dreamed of this day before." Joker giddily fidgeted in his spot, smiling at Tali and her maids who turned to stare at him. "What? I don't have a very interesting life, you guys are the highlight of my day. And wow, you're hot Tali, Shepard's a lucky guy." Tali smiled and nodded, turning back around and walking off to the aisle. She heard Joker talk to Jack, who were walking a ways behind them. "Are you smiling?" He asked her, a hitting sound coming from behind Tali, and Joker grunting in pain. "Ow... Fine then."

* * *

><p><em>How was that terrible?<em> Shepard asked, looking disappointed because he wanted a juicier story.

"Well... I thought you wanted to cheat on me or something, and Joker wanted to know what sex was like for us, and everyone heard us having sex on that vid, and... I don't know, I was younger and scared to get married. It's not like it's easy to get married." She shrugged, placing the picture back on the desk.

_I'd never cheat on you, Tali._ Shepard said, when her gaze returned to him.

"I know, like I said, I was younger and silly. How'd your side go again?" She asked, propping her body up with an elbow, and holding her face up as she stared at her husband.

_After some of the things you said, my side of things is starting to make more sense._

* * *

><p>Most of the guys were sitting in some pews of the church, chatting a bit before the wedding actually started. Only Shepard was dressed for the occasion, everyone else seemed to be copy and pasted from the Normandy's deck. After all, the wedding was taking place on Earth, and only a few weeks after the end of the war. The priest walked up to Shepard, to have a quick chat as well. "Hello son." The old man said to Shepard, which reminded him of the way Anderson talked to him. Though the man looked nothing like Anderson, he had scraggly, thin, black hair, and a typical priests clothing on, mostly black. His face clean shaven and kindly smiling at Shepard.<p>

_Father._ Shepard said back to the priest, giving a nod as well.

"You've brought quite the party with you today, a very odd fellowship I'd say." He took a spot with Shepard on the alter, looking on at Shepard's crew and friends. Garrus was sitting with Zaeed, Jack, and Javik. On the left side of the benches, sat Jacob and his girlfriend, James, Joker, and EDI. They were talking quietly with each other, exchanging war stories, jokes, and regular banter.

_Yes, they are._ Shepard said, out of the preacher's view, looking on to his large group of friends.

"And your wife. She's quiet the giggly one." Shepard laughed when the man mentioned Tali's giggles. "I talked with her and you before, when you decided to get married here, she's deeply in love with you, you know?" Shepard nodded to his question, smiling for wherever his wife-to-be was, and remembering what her laugh sounded like. "You love her?" The man asked, looking intent on getting an honest answer from Shepard, scanning his face for a hint of a lie.

_Yes._ Shepard looked offended at first, but then realized the mans intentions were pure and for Tali's sake, and thought nothing of them. Joker walked up to the two men, entering their conversation.

"Shepard. I've been meaning to ask you, what's sex like with Tali?" Joker said, a thought provoking smile on his face, as if he was imagining it in his head. The preacher looked to Shepard, wondering how he would deal with this. "Sorry father." Joker said, pursing his lips in an awkward manner, having said the word sex next to a holy man made Joker blush slightly. Shepard looked at Joker, and shook his head, stern and slow, not having time for his games. Joker shrugged, and walked away to talk with the rest of the group. "Fine, I'll ask around, see what people think about it." The preacher rolled his eyes at Joker, a smile on his face.

"You know I used to be married before I became a priest." He said to Shepard, nodding slowly with his eyes closed. "A few years ago, when Saren went from place to place, attacking civilians with his geth, my family was killed. My little girl, she was like your wife, sweet, kind, giggly, and cute. Take good care of her, you here me?" He ended, his face solemn and lonely. Shepard nodded to him, and gave a small smile. His face changed, noticing something in the crowd of Shepard's friends, and his expression turning worried and upset. "What's your friend doing with a gun? In a church!" The man exclaimed, sounding revolted at the thought of a gun being in his church.

Shepard looked on to the old wooden pews, with Garrus lounging back in one, calibrating his gun. The holy man walked away from Shepard, his shoes clomping on the stone flooring under him. This church was one of the few that were still made of stone, an old one, from hundreds of years ago. A red carpet lined the aisle, large and tall stained glass windows numbered scores along the walls of the long church, shining different beams of rainbow colors into the church. The man stomped to Garrus, confronting him with an attempt at a calm look, but his anger broke through.

"Sir. This church prohibits the use, and or containing of weaponry. I'll ask you to remove the weapon back to your vehicle, or you'll have to remove yourself." The man said, barely holding onto his calm voice, as he grew impatient with Garrus at a fast pace.

"I'm sorry, it's boring in here, I just wanted something fun to do." Garrus said, standing up to get rid of his sniper rifle.

"Boring!" The priest scoffed, looking well offended by Garrus' words. "This isn't supposed to be a fun house for you, it's a house of God, and... what the hell is going on over there!" The preaching man yelled, turning his gaze to Wrex, who was drinking from a bowl of water. "You there!" He yelled and pointed to Wrex, gaining his attention. He jogged up to him, and ripped the gold shining bowl from his hands. "This is a relic of it's own sorts sir, and is used for baptizing children... it's holy water!" He placed the now empty artifact on a table, his face twitching with anger at the krogan.

"Holy water..." Wrex pondered, tasting the words with his mouth, remembering the way the water itself had tasted. "I think I like it, who made such a fine dish, I shall have his name!" Wrex bellowed, Eve walked over to see what was so important.

"Who- who- who- who made it! I _made_ it, it's blessed in the name of Jesus Christ!" He frowned, still yelling at the foolish leader of the krogans, gaining the attention of the rest of the church attendants.

"Very well..." Wrex pondered again, looking around the church for someone. "I shall want to meet this... Jesus Christ... to discuss his recipe for that fine brew." Wrex demanded the location of Jesus, so loudly that the rest of the crew heard it, and laughed at him.

"He's dead." The priest said plainly, the frown on his face disappearing and turning into a sympathetic look.

"My condolences." Wrex said, nodding to the man, and patting him on the back. Wrex's sharp hands ripped through part of the priests clothing, tearing the sleeve of his shirt right out of the sewing of the cloth, stitches ripped with a loud sheering tear. The black cloth floated to the ground, the priest looking at it in shock, and back up to the krogan.

"You... you..." The preacher didn't know what else to say, but continued stuttering the word, you. A bell from the tower above rang out. Wrex and the priest looked up to see Grunt, batting at the golden bell with his hands, laughing as he used it as a punching bag. "What are you doing!" The old man yelled out, Grunt looked down from the tall tower shaft to see the two people.

"Fighting!" Grunt yelled back, punching the bell again. "I am Urdnot Grunt, I am a warrior!"

"I don't give a damn if you're the Pope, stop hitting that bell!" The preacher held his hands up to his mouth, and threw his fist angrily at the loud krogan tank-bred.

"Fine!" Grunt yelled back, jumping from the tower, down to where Wrex and the priest stood. A whistling and laughing sound came from Grunt as he descended the tower, breaking through some of the wooden stairs to get to them, as if he was a bomb.

Wrex pulled the hopeless priest out of harm's way, the both of them watching Grunt fall. Grunt landed with a thud on the stone floor beneath him, cracking several of the gray bricks into multiple pieces, and leaving a gouge in the floor. "He-he-he. Sorry about that." Grunt laughed, looking at the priest in his frightening krogan stare.

The man shriveled up, shaking and shivering, his lip started to quiver as if he'd cry. "My church is ruined... you ruined it." His voice cracked, despite his age. Jack walked up beside the preacher, patting him roughly on the back.

"Don't worry bud, Shepard'll pay for all this fuckin' mess." She positively said, glancing back to Shepard, who just nodded, knowing he would be held responsible for them being here anyway.

"Please don't use that kind of language in my church." He said in a pathetically quiet voice, looking up at her with water clouding his eyes, though the mention of monetary recompense cheered him up a bit.

"Why the fuck not?" She asked, squinting in scorn at him. He let out a few quiet crying sounds, knowing he couldn't get her to stop now.

He trudged his way back to the alter, his shoulders slacked and head down. Walking past Joker, who was being yelled at by Garrus, Zaeed, Jacob, and EDI. "If you want to know so bad, go ask Tali! Stop bothering us, damn it." Zaeed spat, throwing his hand in Joker's direction.

"Yeah, you'd make a better bridesmaid than a best man anyway... or maybe not even that..." Garrus said, turning his head back to Shepard at the alter when he was finished insulting Joker, and gave a wave.

"Maybe a flower girl would be more in your range of accomplishments, Jeff." EDI added, in her plain monotone voice, smiling after she said it.

"Fine. I'll go where I'm wanted." He turned around, walking for the room where Tali and her bridesmaids were, holding his head high in pride.

A few moments later, everyone was more settled in, and ready for the marriage ceremony to begin. The priest had mostly gotten over the damages to his church, standing in front of Shepard and having a conversation with him. "Yup, and then, once you've gotten it in paper that you're a priest, they send you to do some work at-" The preacher was cut off, and grunted a squeaky sound, grabbing for his privates with both hands, his face crying again. He fell to his knees, grabbing on to Shepard's hand to hold himself up. Shepard tried to pick him up, grabbing his shoulders and hoisting him to stand, until he saw someone appear behind him. Kasumi's form was now standing in front of Shepard and the preacher, with her staring down in shock.

"I... I thought he was you." She said, looking at Shepard and the preacher in shock.

_Where'd you come from?_ Shepard asked_. And why?_ He referred to her, attacking the mans genitals with most likely her foot.

"I'm so sorry." She said again, running away back to the direction Tali was getting changed in.

* * *

><p>"Oh, that's why she was acting so weird..." Tali said, giggling for the poor old man. "She thought you were cheating on me, or at least looking at other girls, so she said she'd break your balls."<p>

_But why'd she hit him?_ Shepard asked, throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head.

"She's told me before it's hard to see when she cloaks herself, she probably thought he was you. Poor guy. Anyway... then I came out and we got married, and I cheered up the poor old broken guy."

* * *

><p>"Anyone know how to play a piano? My piano guy skipped today." The preacher asked in a high pitched voice, still holding his parts with a hand, and a bible in the other.<p>

"I dabble." Zaeed said, standing up from his seat, and walking over to the distant piano facing the alter.

"Okay. Go ahead and send in the bride." The priest's voice squeaked, pointing to anyone in their seats who would go. Jack stood up and walked through the halls to find Tali. "Okay, show me what you got." He said, looking to Zaeed. Zaeed cracked his neck, arms, and fingers before proceeding. He hovered his fingers over the white keys, and breathed in and out slowly. He played deep keys, slowly, and at a sad tone and sound. "We're not at a funeral, what are you doing? Play something cheerier." The priest softly demanded, nervous the bride would come in and walk down the aisle to this music. "I'm not going to have the Hero of the Universe's wife have a bad wedding, this has to be perfect for them. Now play." He demanded again.

"The hell's so cheery about a wedding anyway? Bunch of words are said, and some people kiss, that's it." Zaeed shrugged, speaking in his hard voice to the soft speaking priest. "This is the only tune I know, so I'm playing it." Zaeed cleared his throat before starting again. "I call it, An End Once and For All."

The priest sighed, and shrugged. "Fine. Everybody, shut up, here she comes!" The priest yelled, straightening out his torn shirt to look presentable, and did the same for Shepard, wiping a spec of dust off of Shepard's suit. Tali's maids took seats at pews, letting her walk the aisle by herself. Though Joker ran up behind her, some flowers in his hands.

"Here! I found these." He stuffed them in her hands, smiled and took a seat.

"Flower girl." Jacob said, his girlfriend laughing at Joker beside him.

"Shut up." Joker quipped, watching the rest of the wedding play out.

Step by step, Tali made her way to Shepard, holding the bouquet of flowers in her hands and smiling through her veil. Tali kept her head low, for some reason afraid of how the wedding would turn out, glancing at her friends who lined the pews in the church. Their faces squinting, trying to see through her veil to her face. Wrex just nodded at her, knowing it was her and giving an odd krogan smile. "Who's that?' Grunt asked, sitting next to Wrex. Wrex smacked him on the back of the head, and stared at him.

"Quiet, this is as important to them as mating is for us." Wrex explained, making Grunt nod enthusiastically.

"He-he. Are they going to mate up there? Are we going to watch?" He said, staring in question at his leader.

"I'll hit you again." Wrex said, making Grunt go quiet.

Garrus smiled at Tali. "Tali'Shepard vas Rannoch." He nodded to her. She blushed at the mention of her possible new name, the one that would be in the papers for their marriage.

Jacob and his pregnant girlfriend looked at Tali, smiling wide and endearingly. "Tali, you look..." Jacob started, smiling and not knowing how to finish.

"Beautiful." His girlfriend answered, though she didn't know Tali, she knew everyone that was invited to the wedding were friends in some way. Jacob and his girlfriend smiled at each other and back to Tali.

"Are you crying now too?" Joker asked in a whisper to Jack, laughing afterward. Tali heard them but didn't bother to look back, though she smiled at the mention of Jack crying for their wedding.

"Shut the fuck up." She grumbled, whacking him on the shoulder.

"Damn, fine, I'll stop." He said, rubbing the spot on his shoulder she had punched

"A splendid dress, Tali." Javik added, quiet up until she reached the last row of pews.

"I agree, you have a most splendid beauty too." Samara said, smiling, which she rarely did.

"Yeah, what they said, but better." James was the last to speak. Zaeed continued to play his sad tune, and it eventually ended as Tali ascended the few steps to the alter and locked hands with Shepard.

"Hey." She said, a half smile beneath her veil.

_Hey._ He mouthed to her, rubbing her fingers with his as he held her them.

"We're gathered here today." The preacher squeaked in his less-than-masculine tone. "Yadda dadda do. Something something marriage. Kiss." He sighed, closing the bible and setting it on a table next to him. Tali shrugged, as did Shepard, looking between them and the sad priest.

"What's wrong?" Tali asked, not bothering to finish the marriage with a kiss.

He looked up awkwardly, feeling a strangeness in the way the wedding had gone. "My church is ruined, your friends have ransacked it like a medieval village, they've nearly destroyed everything." He whimpered, nodding his head left and right as he explained how bad his day has been. "And, I wanted your marriage to be perfect, but with Beethoven over there." He nodded to Zaeed, who looked impressed with his piano work, but grunted at the preacher's insult. "The idiot twins-"

"We're not twins." Grunt added, leaving out the idiot part of his correction. Wrex smacked his hands against his face, and sighed at the young and foolish krogan.

"And then there's that potty-mouthed, and rude gentleman-"

"The fuck did he just call me!" Jack spat out, standing up in her seat, and sneering at the priest. Shepard took a single look at her, and shook his head like he did to Joker, and she took her place back in the seat. "Fine." She grumbled, folding her arms over chest.

"It'll be okay, I liked the wedding so far." Tali said, letting go of Shepard's hands and embracing the kind old man in a hug. He looked surprised at first, holding his hands away from her, but gave in to her sweet action. He hugged her back, smiling to himself and looking at Shepard, tears in his eyes slowly disappearing. Tali let go of him, and gave a visible smile through her veil. "Better?" Tali asked, thinking the hug alone helped him overcome this fit of depression.

"Better." He confirmed, smiling at Shepard and Tali. He sniffed in his tears, and wiped a scratch away on his nose, redoing the ending of the wedding. With a smile, he said. "You may now kiss the bride." Tali took Shepard's hands again, and let him lift her veil. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, moving closer with their lips until they locked in a kiss. The old man laughed silently and began clapping for them, as did the rest of the church. They broke their kiss after what seemed a minute or longer.

He looked down to her smiling. Throw_ that at the crowd._ Shepard said, pointing to the flowers Tali had in her hands.

"Why?" She asked, laughing at the strange custom he described.

_It's a weird thing, where whoever catches it, gets married next. _Tali understood most of what he said, especially the end part about the catcher gets married next. She did has he asked, turning around, and threw it into the crowd

"Mine!" Grunt yelled, jumping from the benches to the flowers, his mouth open as if he'd eat them. His jump was too soon, for the flowers landed on the lap of Garrus, who was occupied with calibrating a pistol he had hidden away.

"What's this?" He asked, picking up the flowers, and squinting at them. Tali and Shepard laughed at him, as did most of the other humans who understood the custom. Tali and Shepard took each others hands, and walked down the aisle to leave the church, their friends continuing to clap and laugh for them.

* * *

><p>"Yup. Pretty good wedding over all, I'm glad I got to make the old guy happy, it felt good." Tali said, fluffing her pillow and laying her head down on it.<p>

_You have that effect on people, all you have to do is hug them and they feel great again._

"Yup, I've been told I'm cute." She boasted, moving to turn the lamp off now. The room was now covered in mostly darkness, only a few rays of blue moonlight shinning through their bedroom window and onto their bed. "You know... You look a little sad, maybe I should give you a hug too." She said in the darkness, climbing on top of Shepard, wrapping the covers around her and him. "Oh, this is an extreme case of depression." She said, looking at his face, turning it from left to right. He smiled back at her, and asked.

_You got any idea on how to remedy my depression?_ He asked her, thinking of one in particular.

"I can think of a few." She giggled, staring down lovingly at him, and tracing her hands from the midsection of his chest and slowly going lower down his body.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>Yup, hehe, more implied sex at the end. Just implied, I'd say. When life gives you lemons... you sell them at the farmers market and buy watermelons. But, that's just me. That's all, with school coming up for me, probably less often chapters. Tell me what you liked, hated, or had questions about. Thanks for reading.


	9. Quarian Devil

**Note:** This story has never had a real antagonist before, or a threat to Tali and Shepard... so I gave it one. Read, enjoy, review.

* * *

><p>"I'll see you later then?" Tali asked, standing outside their house's entrance, her hand resting on the door frame as she talked to Shepard.<p>

_I'll be here._ Shepard mouthed, pointing a finger firm to the ground and smiling back at her._ And here..._ His head popped up as he remembered something, walking out of her view and into their kitchen. She awaited his return, peaking her head into their house, searching for her husband. He came walking back, a pistol in his hands, and a bag in the other.

"What's this?" She asked, being given the two items to stare at oddly in her hands.

_In case something goes wrong. Hide this._ He pointed at the gun. _In that._ He pointed to the purse, and enclosed her hands on the two objects. _Okay?_ He waited, his eyes stern, not going to take no for an answer.

"Not much could go wrong, I'm just going to get groceries. It's not like there's any crime going on around Rannoch." She rolled her small pupils, and stuffed the gun inside the bag. "From what I can tell after my meetings with the Admiralty, everything is peaceful as of now." He kept his look, not believing everything was as fine as she claimed. She stomped her foot on the ground and rolled her eyes again. "Fine. I'll see you later then?" She asked, wrapping the purse strap around her arm and holding it at her side, waiting for him to end in a goodbye kiss.

_Yup, see ya._ He gave a final smile, trying to pull the door closed until she stopped him. He looked at her and squinted his eyes, not understanding.

"You're supposed to give me a goodbye kiss." She prompted him, squinting back at him, but a far more insulted and angry squint. "Bosh'tet." She said after he pecked her dark gray lips. "I might pick you up a book on chivalry and manners while I'm at the store." He held his stomach and began faking a silent laugh, bobbing his head up and down at her, his mouth open as if laughter could come out. His face took a serious look, and stopped moving. _Ha-ha._ He worded. She smirked at his antics and turned to leave, taking quick looks behind herself to see him watch her leave.

She got into their car, leaving her husband to prepare for his job while she was gone.

* * *

><p>Her drive was quick, heading to a quiet side of town, and a large store complex. The store was titled, <em>The Quarian Grocer<em>. The letters in white, plastered onto the top of the building, contrasting the black metal roof. There were large spaces to park, so Tali picked one where no one was near enough to hit her car, but close enough to the others that no one would think of stealing it. She looked down to the bag, made of black leather, decorated with silver buttons and zippers. She thought for a moment whether she should take it with her or not, staring at it, seeing part of the gun poke through the top of the bag.

"John wouldn't forgive me if something bad happened, nor would he ever again let me leave the house if I got hurt." She mumbled in a hushed voice to herself, and swiped the bag from the vacant seat, leaving her car alone in the mostly empty parking lot.

She walked through the lot, and noticed a few quarians huddled around a vehicle, a large vehicle, large enough to fit the three of them easily inside. They gawked at her, turning their heads and whispering quietly amongst each other. One male quarian in particular, sneered towards her, a scarred eye and missing ear on the left side of his face. His eyes seemed to pierce through her clothes, and even peel her skin from her bones as he continued to give a soulless, glossy, and deathly stare. Parts of his black hair missing on his left ruined face, leaving short strands around where his ear would be, and a patch of something that covered the hole.

She tried to ignore the man, keeping her gaze from him and continuing her path to the store. She could feel his eyes scanning her from behind, though she didn't know his intentions and meaning for staring at her, but she assumed they were less than kind. She entered the store through a sliding glass door, opening at her presence and revealing the inside of the complex. It was large, lined with shelves, displays, and boxes to buy from. White and blue tiled floor made up the base, silver and shining walls, and a glass paneled ceiling that revealed Rannoch's sun. Though it was mostly empty of any people, just a few seemed to shop here.

"Good morning Mrs. Shepard." A voice called from behind Tali, a voice she had heard before, an older human man's voice. She turned to see the delivery man, and an even older gentleman with him, both of them smiling at her.

Tali smiled back to him, and held out a hand for him to shake, as was a human custom, one that Shepard told her originated in something called Western times, to show someone you were unarmed. Tali thought it ironic that she did indeed carry a gun, though Shepard told her to tell no one, unless authorities asked about it, and that she should show them the permit she has to carry concealed weaponry. He took her hand joyfully, gently bobbing it up and down in a quick shake. "I don't think I ever got your name, though Kasumi told me a little about you, and said that you were her friend."

"Her friend?" He asked, looking to the older gentleman next to him, confused.

"Oh... I'm sorry..." Tali said awkwardly, not understanding why he didn't consider himself her friend. "Are you... more than a friend to her?" Tali asked, shocked by the age difference between him and Kasumi, if she was indeed seeing him. He must have been just under 50 years old, and the man next to him looked at least 20 years his senior.

"Ha!" He forced a loud laugh, and the older man next to him gave a chuckle. "Nah... I'm married with kids... seven of em actually. I just thought we were more of a partnership than a friendship, doesn't bother me though, I'm glad she thinks me a friend." He let a few seconds of silence pass before speaking again, his head popping up and turning to the older man next to him. "Oh! But our names: This is my father, Matthos. And, I'm Davos. At your service." He ended smiling and with a bow.

Tali looked to the man's father, noticing his thin, pure white hair, which he had long enough to tie into a small pony tail behind his head. His face kindly, like his son's, and a long white beard and mustache covering his face. "It's nice to meet you too." Tali shook the oldest man's hand, and gave him a nod.

"The pleasure's all mine, miss." He spoke calmly, slowly, and had a country accent. "I never in all my years did I think I'd meet a Zorah." He planted his hands into his pockets and waited a response from her.

She thought it weird he'd rather have met someone from her family, and not the famed Shepard's. "That's kind of you to admit. We can walk and talk if you'd like?" She proposed, taking a step away from them.

"That sounds great... where's Shepard though?" Davos, the messenger and spy asked her.

"He stayed home, considering he'd have to leave for work soon enough anyway." She said, not bothering to look at her company, but instead she walked her path through the store and searched for the items she wanted. "What is it you do... Mr. Matthos?" She stumbled over the name, getting used to her new company.

"Matthos is my first name, you can call us the Seaworths." He corrected her, slowly limping along with his son.

"Well, Mr. Seaworth. What is it you do?" She asked again, not annoyed by his correction.

"I work as a genetic scientist." He said, catching up to her side, limping with a stiff leg.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Tali asked, looking down to his tan slacks and brown boots.

"It's gone." He simply said, tapping the left leg he spoke of. "Lost it in an accident." He said, not bothering to go into further detail. Tali had the sense and respect to not go into further detail, considering she just met the man. "We're a bunch of cripples. With my son losing his fingers, and me my leg, we're quiet the martial team." He joked, smiling down to her. Davos held up his gloved hand, the ends of his longest fingers were cut off, and the leather glove's finger tips were wrapped downward to fit his shortened hand.

"Well, it's four fewer finger nails to clean." He said, smiling at Tali, who thought his little joke funny and smirked back.

Tali finished her shopping, grabbing a bottle of soap from a counter, and throwing it into a basket Davos held. "Milady, I'm flattered you think I'm so strong, but I don't think I can tote this thing around with me much longer." Davos said, heaving the basket up in both hands, and carrying with him as they walked.

"Quit your whining Davos." His father joked to him, his mustache lifting as he smiled.

"I can't believe you didn't even get any onions, those are the best type of food." He said, sifting through the bag of goodies with his eyes.

"There aren't any onions on Rannoch." His father corrected him.

The trio of people neared the exit, after having recently payed for their supplies. "Well." The old man said, holding out another hand for Tali. "It was nice seeing you, tell Shepard I said-

"Good morning suit-rats!" A devilish voice interrupted him, directing everyone's attention to the entrance. There stood the three quarians Tali had seen collaborating by their vehicle earlier. Their leader yelled the insult, though he himself would have been called the same if he was wearing his suit. Then again, not many quarians inside the store had their envirosuit on, just well made and expensive looking clothing. He had a gun in his hands, as did his henchmen, both of them quarian males.

His ugly crow's eye scanned the room, and he gave a shrug to the on-lookers. "You're all so fancy, wearing your little suits and pants, all because you got the money for it." He spit to the ground, and hoisted his gun to point at the scared shoppers. A few screams let loose from the people, though he didn't fire his gun, he just gave a crazed smile. "We were just wondering... if any of you would like to join our ranks?" He said, holding his large assault rifle in one hand, keeping it off to the side as he talked now.

"You're not our military." An old quarian man argued, his hair gray and shining white.

The large evil quarian man ticked his head from left to right, laughing silently at the man. He approached him, and delivered a three fingered fist to the old man's teeth, dropping him to the ground, his face covered in a sticky red. "Don't you think I know that! You whelp!" His head started to shake, and he seemed to notice it, his eyes darting around the room as he tried to calm himself. A quarian girl tended to the old quarian man, crying for him, perhaps they were related.

"Why are you doing this?" Tali chipped in, before the man did something crazier.

His head slowly and freakishly turned to see her, and he gave a twitching smile. "Ah... Mrs. Shepard. How could I have been so rude." He gave a bow, and walked closer to her. Despite their age, the two old human men stood in front of her, to shield her from the devil quarian.

The evil quarian eyed the men, and started to slowly unsheathe a blade from his belt, smiling as he did it. The old men, father and son, looked nervously to the blade and contemplated their next move. Tali pushed through the men, most likely saving their lives that were about to be thrown away for nothing.

"Don't hurt them. Just tell me what it is you are doing this for." Tali said, nervousness breaking through her voice as the man looked at her, giving her the same soulless and evil stare as before. His eyes colorless, and glossy. His left eye twitched as he looked at her, and shoved the knife back into it's sheath.

He turned to the crowd now, who were thankfully smart enough not to run, and instead waited. He held his hands out as if he wanted an applause, nodding to his fellow quarians, and smiling again. "My people! My job and home was on a quarian ship among the fleet. When you admirals!" He yelled the end, pointing to Tali, who flinched in fright. "Decided to strip most of them down for parts, as to make homes on Rannoch... I! I wasn't given one!"

"That can't be!" Tali yelled, as if this were a debate, and not a hostage situation. "The Admiralty said that everyone who lived on the fleet would be compensated enough to buy a piece of land, or to buy another smaller ship."

"Ha! I didn't qualify for the pay, because of my war injuries! And my, _mental state!_ They shunned me, like I didn't even fight in the war, and now look at me! I'm just another low-life rat, scrapping for morsels of food from you high-up and pampered rats! We're all rats! No matter how you clothe us, we're all scum to the rest of the universe!"

Tali searched her own thoughts, thinking if what he said could be true, if people were actually not getting pay or houses after the war. "Why don't you and I talk it over? If you convince me to your side of the story, then I'll leave you all be, but if not, then everyone will have to defect to my side of thinking!" He proposed, pointing to Tali dramatically, letting his gun slack to the floor in his other hand. Tali didn't say anything, but she continued to think of why the Admiralty would be lacking in their duties to their people. "Nothing... I guess I win then! Boys!" His militia stood at attention, as if they were soldiers, which they could have been before turning rebel. "Keep these prisoners under watch, I'll take the higher profile ones to watch for myself." He said, eying Tali disturbingly, scanning her body with his hateful eyes.

"Yes sir." His fellow rebel brethren answered, lifting their guns at the quarians, and telling them to sit down. They did as they were told, and took seats around the cold floor, looking around in fright of what could come next. The leader walked up to one of his men, and whispered something in his ear, not loud enough for Tali to hear.

A girl sitting on the floor, the one that held the older quarian in her arms unconscious, seemed to hear what they said. She looked to Tali, tears in her eyes, and quickly averted her gaze when Tali caught her and began whimpering helplessly_. What is it he said? Why's she crying? I can't believe this is happening. I need to find a time to use this gun._ She thought as the ugly, evil, and strong quarian man approached.

"After you, your highness." His tone spiteful, giving another false bow to her as he held his hands out to a smaller room. The room had windows that parted it from the large room they were currently in, so everyone could see what would go on inside. "You... in as well." He said, baring teeth to the older gentlemen who later apposed him. They slowly walked in with Tali, taking seats around a conference table. The room painted with yellow, yellow chairs, and a white table was all that filled it. "Stay, or I'll have to kill you all." He demanded and threatened, pointing firmly to their seats.

He walked the windows, closing the blinds as he gawked at the scared hostages through them. With the windows closed, he moved to lock the door. Tali, Davos the messenger, and his father Matthos exchanged worried looks, and then back to their evil captor. "What's the meaning of locking us in here?" Matthos asked, his face indifferent as he waited for an answer.

"Shut up." Was his only words, as he took a seat in a corner, and stared them down with his hawk eye and one good eye.

"Good answer." Matthos returned in annoyance, not bothered by what could come of him for acting out against his captor.

"I wasn't talking to you." The evil man spat, and his face returned to staring blankly at the floor. The trio of captives exchanged more looks, wondering what was wrong with the man. _Does he have voices in his head?_ Tali wondered, raising eyebrows insultingly and strangely at the man.

* * *

><p>More strange and quiet time passed, with the man just staring at them, contemplating something sinister no doubt, but what? Ever so often, his eye or mouth would twitch, and he would start to mumble something to himself.<p>

A thought surfaced in Tali's head, and she figured she could ask the men beside her, considering the evil quarian was probably having an inner monologue about his sinful ways. "How did you know he wouldn't stab you?" She asked in a whisper, not bothered to look at them, lest she catch the quarian's attention.

She saw Matthos give her a glance, and sigh quietly before he answered. "We didn't." He stated simply, easily catching her attention, though the evil man didn't notice. He and his son were prepared to risk their lives for her, though she didn't even know much about them, only that one was a scientist and the other a deliverer.

"But why? I don't mean to offend, buy you two are much older than me, and don't seem the brave type."

"What is bravery?" He asked her, probably already having a well constructed proverb for her in his head, though he wanted her honest answer.

She pursed her lips and shrugged softly. "I suppose it's when you do things without caring what happens to yourself, or without having any fear."

He nodded to her slowly, leaning back in his chair as he rested his hands on his small but rounded stomach. "Not exactly. Everyone is afraid of something. As tough as some people might play, they all have a soft side, and all have fears, passions, emotions, except some are better at hiding them than others." Tali thought of Jack and Zaeed as he spoke his earlier statement. "Bravery is being afraid to do something... but facing it anyway."

"Okay." She replied meekly, lifting her purse to her lap.

"Are you afraid of death?" He asked her, re-positioning himself in his seat.

She gave two choppy glances to him, and smiled as if she wasn't, but then she remembered that death would mean she couldn't be with John anymore. "Yes." She said sheepishly, her eyes finding the floor in shame.

"There's no shame in it. I am too." Davos replied, locking his fingers together and holding them in his lap.

"As am I." His father said, moving his wrinkled hand to Tali's forearm. "We're all going to have to be brave pretty soon... You understand me miss Zorah?" She nodded to him, and opened the purse for his view. He nodded to her, as if he knew it was in there. "Keep it ready, it's not just him we have to watch out for, he's got his lackeys outside."

"Okay." Tali readied herself, taking a deep breath, and waiting for an opportune moment to strike.

* * *

><p>A few more minutes passed silently. They waited for the right moment, a moment when they could get the three traitors together and pick them off in a few shots, but no such time came. The quarian boss was rasping his fingers against his kneecap as he shook in his seat, mumbling to himself. Tali wasn't sure when he'd erupt, but was sure it would be soon, and she would be right. He jumped out of his seat, and pulled his knife from it's sheathe, a shinging sound coming from the blade as he drew it and approached the three people. Tali sat in between Matthos and Davos, and it seemed the man wanted to harm her, pointing the knife to her as he approached.<p>

"Y-you!" He grumbled in his groggy voice, stomping to her. Davos stood to his feet, blocking the man. Thankfully he didn't use his knife to dispose of Davos, instead he pushed him out of the way, and knocked him to the floor. Matthos stood to his feet as well, but didn't have enough time to block the man or even raise a hand to him by the time he reached Tali. The large quarian man gripped Tali's arms with both hands, pushing the side of the knife against her, in a way that didn't cut either of them. "You _are_ a pretty woman... It would be a shame if I had to sully such beauty with your blood." He said, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek in the same way the turian assassin had done years ago, though Shepard wouldn't be here to save her now. She smacked it away from her, and pushed him back, knocking him far to the wall on the other side of the room.

"Get away from me!" She cried out, dropping her purse with the gun inside when she had pushed him back. He laughed maniacally, shaking his head in inhuman directions that made him seem like something out of a horror movie.

"You've got fire in you!" He said, twisting the blade in his hands, taunting her with it. "I like it!" He yelled, lunging at her with the knife in hand.

"You'll not lay a hand on her!" Davos stepped forward, after collecting himself form the floor. He gripped the quarian man's armor by the neck, and threw him down. Davos jumped on him, fighting him for the knife, but was easily kicked off by the quarian's superior legs. Davos flew back to the wall again, landing with another thud. Somehow the quarian's henchmen decided not to intervene, though they didn't know what was going on inside, they remained quiet outside.

"I plan on laying more than a hand on her." He chuckled, standing to his feet and moving towards her. The statement sickened Tali, not believing someone of her species could be capable of what he probably intended to do if he got past the Seaworths and her. He stomped to her again, knife in hand. Matthos took her place, the oldest of the room's attendants, though this time the quarian wasn't messing around. He shoved his knife into Matthos' gut, and twisted it, his eyes digging into Matthos' eyes, and smiling like a mad man. The touch of metal burned into Matthos, sending a fiery pain throughout his body.

Matthos fell to the floor, holding his gut, blood leaking through his shirt. "You're turn Zorah." He giggled like a girl, holding the knife up to her, twisting it to show her the blood. "I won't kill you though. I like it when they squirm." He dropped the knife, and grabbed her by the neck with one hand, trying to kiss her, and fumbling with his belt as he attempted to take of the lower part of his armor. She pulled the gun from her purse, and shoved it into his gut with a shot, cracking through his armor and burying deep in him. His face flashed with pain, thought he ate it up quickly and smiled at her. He raised a hand to her and smacked her to the floor, laughing and grimacing with the joy and pain he felt now.

Quarians weren't naturally strong to begin with, but this one seemed a mutant freak, with his crazily lasting strength. He limped toward her, clutching at his stomach, blood seeping through the fingers he held his wound in. Davos returned, for the third time and what could also be the last, though Tali hoped her shot had caused him enough strain that Davos could handle him now. She searched for the gun, seeing Matthos twitching on the floor, a pool of blood forming around his gut. She watched Davos drop the quarian to the ground, both of them fighting for dominance over the other. The gun was no where to be found, most likely hidden under a chair or other furniture, so she began looking for it. "Not... my father... not Mrs. Shepard." He groaned, wrestling the quarian on the ground.

She threw chairs to the ground, searching for their last chance, but found nothing, even after three more chairs and peaking under the table there was nothing. "Tali'Zorah?" Matthos asked, waving her over to him.

"Matthos... are- are you okay?" She asked, pulling his body to face her, and looking at the red stain growing around his belly.

"I think I'll die. But, first- first things first. Kill him." He lifted his trembling hand to the quarian, who was rolling around on the floor, arms locked with Davos. "Davos can hold him... find- find the gun." His face scrunched up with pain, and his muscles tensed, he began shaking with pain. He pointed to another chair. "I saw it fall somewhere... over there." She had to leave him if there was any hope of at least one of them surviving, she needed to kill the monstrous quarian. She searched in the direction he pointed, her hands darting around quickly, because Davos didn't have much strength left in him to fight the stronger quarian.

Davos lost hold of the quarians arms, both of them fumbling around each other, until the quarian's eyes locked with his knife. He stretched his hands out for it, with Davos under him, and his hands mushing against his face as he tried to stop him. The quarian pulled the knife to him, and took it in hands, trying to force it on the man. Both of them covered in each others sweat and blood, as they wrestled for the weapon, several bruises and cuts on their skin. The quarian seemed to have the upper hand, being on top of Davos and letting gravity do most of his work as he pushed the knife closer to Davos' chest.

Their faces shaking and twitched with the strain of their bodies, the quarian licked his lips as he got closer to ending the human, and Davos' body shook violently as he tried to kick the man off of him. The quarian made it to Davos' chest, right where his heart would be and pushed in, tearing through the cloth of his shirt and piercing his skin slowly. Davos' face was covered in sweat and blood, staining his brown and gray beard with it's foul smell and colors. The quarian smiled once more at Davos, before he was ready for a final push, an inch futher would hit his heart. Davos gritted his teeth as it was nearing the end, not reprieve in sight for him, this could be his end.

Tali found the gun under the leg of the table, and whipped it out before the man had a chance to end Davos. "Hey!" She yelled to the quarian, shakily holding the gun in her hands at him, but steadied when he looked at her. His crow looking eye twitched once more before she fired, finishing him with a bullet to the eye that gave such an evil look to the man. His head jolted back, and his body fell to the floor behind him, which freed Davos to stand.

"I thought you said you weren't going to shoot her!" One of the quarian's henchmen yelled through the door, speaking of the two shots that had rang out in the room so far, opening it and peaking inside.

"Gun!" Davos yelled to her, holding his hands out and catching it as she threw it. He pointed it up to the head that stuck in through the door, and gave him a shot as well. The door opened fully, revealing another quarian, his gun already up and firing at Davos. A shot hit Davos in the knee, he swallowed the pain and steadied the gun for the man's forehead and fired. With that, all of the criminals were dead, and the hostages outside seemed unharmed, though they looked scared for what might have went on inside the small room Tali was in. "Gah!" Davos dropped the gun to the floor he sat on, and scooted to lay against a wall, his hand over his heart. "Y'all okay out there!" Davos yelled to the former hostages, who stood slowly and carefully approached the door. "Good, then call the police." His eyes flickered, and he slumped fully to the floor, most likely unconscious like his father now.

* * *

><p>The authorities arrived at the scene, both of the Seaworths on gurneys, with a doctor next to them and writing something down on a tablet. They were awake now, awake but dozed on medicine. "I thank both of you for helping me, you didn't have to, but you did." Tali said, patting Matthos' arm.<p>

Matthos piped up, quietly and in a tired tone. "No, I'm in your debt. If you hadn't brought that gun, me and my son'd be dead by now. If you ever need anything from me, you just say, and I'll help." The Seaworth's strange devotion to her and her family made her feel appreciated, but it also made her feel bad. They had both risked their lives for her, but they are of the opinion that they owe her. She didn't say anything else to them, and just gave them a nod, walking away from them and back to her car. News teams were the next to arrive, meaning if Shepard was watching TV, he would see what went down here soon enough. She hurried to her car, before the news teams saw her, and readied herself to leave. Shepard was overprotective of her after the war, so she could look forward to several weeks of solitary confinement in their house after nearly being killed, though she liked that about him.

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong> I could have left this one as a cliffhanger, cutting it right at when the bad guys came in to give them a seemingly longer life span, but I thought against it. Hope you liked it. Let me know what you thought, and have a nice rest of the day.


	10. Back Home

**Note: **So, this is pretty much just a filler chapter, so not much going on. I just needed Tali to get back and tie up some loose ends from last chapter, so I filled most of this with random fluff. :)

* * *

><p>Tali had just arrived to Shepard and her estate, slowly creaking the door open and peaking inside for him. She didn't see him. All of the lights were turned off, and it was dark out, so most likely he was sleeping already. No doubt he would be confused as to why it took her so long to get back. The answer to that, was that she had to answer questions for the police, and make sure her new-found friends were okay.<p>

She was thankful that when the quarian man hit her, it didn't leave a visible mark, regardless of the strength of the hit. This way, she could explain it to Shepard, without him freaking out. She didn't see anyone inside, and nothing else moving, it was quiet. She tip-toed inside, gently locking the door with it's frame. She then quickly kicked off her shoes, and let them rest by the door. Walking up the stairs, she nearly tripped and clumsily caught herself on the rail, gripping it tight with both hands. Her stumble didn't make a loud sound, but it scared her, making her curse the oddly shaped step under her breath.

She pierced the stair step with her eyes, as if it was living and could feel the intimidation her eyes radiated. _We'll probably have to get you fixed sometime... bosh'tet. Nobody, or nothing trips me._ She thought, making her way to the upper-most floor of her home.

Her gray feet pattered quietly and slowly to the bedroom she shared with Shepard, pushing lightly on the door to swing it open. Shepard was laid on the bed, face down and covering part of her side. She giggled at his look. His mouth slightly open and breathing lightly, with his arms and legs bent in an awkward position.

She began unclothing herself, quickly unbuttoning her shirt to get into bed with her beloved sleeping husband. Slipping the top off, she moved to unzip her pants, and slide the tight fitting piece off of her, kicking it to the side of her dresser. In her lightest layer of clothing, she slipped into bed with him, gently pushing him off of her side, and laughing quietly. She was glad to be back with him now, hoping there would be no more events like what occurred a few hours ago. She pulled the covers over herself, making sure to cover him as well. Smiling to herself again, a hidden smile in the dark, she looked at him. He stirred in his sleep a bit, clutching the covers unknowingly and drawing them closer to himself.

She moved her head to him, puckering her lips and pecking his face with a light kiss. Content with the ending of the night, she returned to her quiet place on the bed, pinching the sheet close to her body. She let her brain rest, and body turn off for the night, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>She was awake for at least ten minutes now, after seven hours of sleep. With the morning sun shining into their window, the glare resting on the spot in front of their bed, it was time to wake up. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, staring down at Shepard's sleeping form, with her wrists holding her chin and elbows digging into her legs. She waited for any kind of movement from him, since waiting down stairs, or getting something to drink would have been boring without him, and she had the manners to let him get his sleep. She waited patiently and sitting still, her cheeks dimpled with her small, cute smile, hoping he'd awake soon.<p>

He tossed in the bed, rolling around to face her, and noticing she was awake and sitting up. Batting his eyes open, he gave her a quick smirk. "Morning sleepy Shep." She greeted, popping her head up from her wrists and scooting closer to him.

_Hello._ He greeted, closing his eyes again.

"Come on!" She whined, slapping her hands against her legs in upset. "Get up already, you lazy bosh'tet." She jokingly insulted, waiting for him to respond. He responded within a seconds time, and completing his response in seconds. He shot his hands out to her, pulling her on top of him with her screaming in fright and jest. She wiggled in his arms, trying to break free, but not trying very hard. "Let go of me, you bosh'tet." She demanded, smiling at him as she spoke, not meaning a word of it. After a while, she gave in, letting him do whatever he would with her.

He rubbed his hands against her thighs, and examined her face. His eyebrows slanted in a sad manner, and his lips tightened as he looked at her. He raised a hand to the side of her face, rubbing the backs of his fingers against a faint bruise he saw on her. Tali realized what it was he was looking at, and was upset that a bruise had actually developed in the few hours she slept._ Did I accidentally hit you when you were sleeping? _He asked, probably about to throw himself out of their bedroom window if she answered _yes_.

"What! No, of course not." She quickly replied, easing part of his guilt. "It... It was from the store." She answered quietly, her face scrunching up awkwardly as she tried to explain in an easy way.

_The store punched you in the face?_ He asked, shaking his head in an impatient anger.

"No. It was from a... a robbery attempt, or something. This quarian guy tried to rob the place... or something, and hit me, but Davos and Matthos saved my life." He ground his teeth against each other, his hands clenched together in two fists, and he motioned to get up. He tried to leave, but she pushed him back down under her weight with her hands. "He's dead, he can't hurt us anymore." She eyed him sternly, tipping her head to him, waiting for compliance.

_He didn't hurt us... he hurt you. And, who's Davos and Matthos?_ He didn't strain, rather he waited until she'd allow him up.

"Remember that delivery guy?" He nodded slowly to her. "He's Davos, and his dad is Matthos." Shepard continued to nod slowly, putting the names to faces for the next time he met Davos.

_I suppose, as long as you're alright, then there's no point in getting worked up about it. _He was completely relaxed now, and went back to stroking her legs with his hands. He glided his hands up her waist, along the sides of her stomach, brushing the tips of his fingers across her breasts, and finally ending their journey to her face. He cupped her cheeks and gently brought her face to his, locking their lips in a wet, tongue-filled kiss. She arched her back as they kissed, and hummed into his mouth while they kissed, continuing to moan. She smiled, and broke their kiss off, pushing away from him for a second.

She giggled and looked down to his pelvis, just under her own. She giggled louder, until it was almost a hearty scream, and covered her mouth. He wasn't sure what she was laughing at, and looked hurt because of it. "You're FTL drive seems to be broken, and poking me..." She pointed to their parts. "Down there." She whispered, a mischievous smile on her lips.

_I wouldn't call it broken... but... You're an engineer. Fix it. _He quipped, mostly serious though.

"You can't command me, Mister. I'm an Admiral to the quarian fleet." She taunted him, sliding forward and back on top of him.

He grunted a bit, due to her action, and replied. _It's more of an honorary title. _He remarked, making her give him an irritable look.

"Shut up." She snarled at him, and accidentally gave a half smile, trying to hide her joking temperament. He apparently saw her joking smile as a sign he could start undressing her. He moved his hands to her black panties, trying to tug them off of her. She snatched his hands dead in their tracks, stopping him from continuing. "I didn't give you permission." Wagging her finger to him, she pushed his hands back down to his sides. He rolled his eyes and sighed a loud and depraved sound. "Get over it, you big baby."

_What do I have to do to get you out of those skivvies? _He asked, raising his eyebrows and scanning her smooth, black, lingerie.

"I got an idea." She said, the pitch of her voice intriguing and sly.

_Oh?_ He asked, pursing his lips. _What is it?_

"Wrestle me for it." She giggled afterward, whether it was because she thought he wouldn't accept, or because she thought she could beat him was unknown.

_Wrestle you for sex? I planned on wrestling you in this bed._ He reasoned, patting his hands hard against the soft and plushy bed.

"Is the great, Commander Shepard, afraid of a little quarian with a tummy-ache?" She pouted her lips, and gave a large smile afterward, knowing she'd won him over with his sense of pride.

_Fine. What do I get if I win?_ He asked, picking her up off of him, and scooting her to the edge of the bed with him. He stood up and stretched with her, pushing his arms far away from his body and twisting his torso around, before he got an answer.

"If I win, I get three sex-cards." She said, moving to her drawer and taking out some work-out clothing.

_The hell's a sex-card?_ He asked, jerking his head back and smiling awkwardly.

"I made it up." She said after she read his short question from his lips. "It means I get to have sex with you any time, any place, and any way I want." She slipped a stretchy pair of black yoga pants on, sticking tight against her skin. Letting go of the elastic band around the waist, a slight snapping sound came from it, and she quickly found a top to slide on. A gray, white strapped camisole, pulling the straps to her shoulders and smiling at Shepard.

_Hard to argue with that._ He simply said, nodding his head to the door if she was ready. He didn't bother putting on a shirt, but did slide on a gray pair of pants.

"And if you win, then you get the sex-cards." She said, helping him out the door by eagerly pushing him through.

_You seriously need another hobby, instead of coming up with sex games. Though I don't mind it. _He jested out of her view, smiling to himself.

* * *

><p>They were downstairs, and in their workout room, not much occupied the small room. It was filled with a treadmill, small weight set, and a mat where they would be doing the wrestling. "Eeip!" She squeaked a strange sound, tapping her feet to a corner of the mat and shaking with joy. "I've never got to fight you before, this'll be awesome!"<p>

Shepard took his position on the other side of the mat, scratching at his nose and smiling at her. _Don't worry, honey, I won't hurt you. _He sarcastically reassured her, making her give a false nod of agreement.

"Oh, thanks, honey. The last thing I'd want is for you to hurt little old me." She taunted him, fanning herself off with her three-fingered hand, making fun of his joking sexism. "You ready, bosh'tet?" She asked him, knocking her head to the left and right, cracking it in a threatening way. She stretched her exposed arms, pulling them out to the left and right, popping the joints before they began fighting.

_Of course._ He gave a massive shrug, and casually walked the radius of the mat, while she took a more aggressive fighting stance, taking it seriously. _You're so cute._ He mocked her, continuing his laid-back walk around the mat, circling each other.

"You shouldn't underestimate me, Shepard." She played, giving a growl to him after she spoke.

_Oh, very scary. Wrex would be shaking and crying like a baby._ He continued his relentless barrage of jokes and insults, with every one his wife grew angrier and feistier. _Scarier than a reaper, honey. You make Zaeed look like a ballerina._

She didn't give warning, but charged after him, kicking his feet out from under him. He landed with a thud on the ground, feeling a pain come back in his leg. _Shit! Shit! Shit! Maybe this was a bad idea! No, you can't look weak, John. Toughen up._ He almost wanted to cry for a reprieve, although the pain wasn't bad, what scared him was he couldn't directly ask her to stop if she got too rough with him. She fell to the floor with him, and quickly wrapped her legs around his neck, locking him in place, though he didn't struggle much, because he didn't want to hit her legs or bruise her. She started laughing, and continued struggling with him. He quickly tapped out, smacking his hand against the mat and slowly climbing to his full height.

"I win!" She screamed, shooting her hands in the air, and clapping with joy.

The pain in his leg was gone, so he didn't bother to bring it up, but instead he rubbed his now sore neck. _Damn. Good job I guess._ He stood alone and bitter, now trying to wander off into the other room, and maybe grab a drink.

She pulled him back, twisted him around by his muscled shoulder and arm. "I think now's a good time." She eyed his body hungrily, and looked up to him smiling, biting her lip at the same time.

_For what? _He asked, squinting his eyes oddly at her.

"A sex token." She stated, pulling her top off with a single action, and throwing it off to the corner of the room.

_A sex card?_ He corrected her, smiling at her carelessness.

"Whatever." She rolled her head around, and then looked back to him. "We are in a weight room after all, so, it would make sense that we do an exercise that uses every muscle in our bodies." She pulled the ties of his pants loose, and stepped back from him.

_I like the way you think, Zorah. I like the way you think._ He nodded to her, watching her strip her clothes off.

"I still have two more after this one, so you be prepared." She warned him. She turned to the side after he nodded in agreement, showing him the curves of her body, from the arch of her back, to her rump, and down to her strangely bent legs. She peeled the tight-fitting pants off of her, lifting her legs, she pulled the pant legs from them, and discarded it far away. Still clothed in her black underwear, she cleared her throat and took a seat on a bench, looking up patiently at Shepard. "You're turn." She simply said, though her lips were covered with a vivacious smile. He looked abysmally annoyed at her, his shoulder's slacking as he felt bored with her short tease. "I won the game, I choose what we do, and how we do it." She reminded him, pointing to a spot in front of her. "Now, strip." She commanded him, readjusting her near-naked body on the workout bench.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> Thank you for reading, and I'm sorry this one is so short, I wanted it to be longer, but I didn't know what else to do. Hopefully a longer chapter and better content next time. Have a good rest of your day. :)


	11. Family Dinner

**Note:** I'm extremely sick and tired (sniff-sniff, cough-cough), and worked through this very slowly and painfully, so don't expect the most enticing masterpiece of a literary work you've ever read. :) I wanted to get this out on time, which for the most part has been on a schedule of every week, so here it is.

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><p>The passion between Shepard and Tali was always there, only slumbering when they were around other persons, and awakening when they were in their most private location. It was hidden under their skin, until they touched each other as lovers and as a couple was it easily brought back to life. It was hot, fierce, wonderful love-making, the such that they usually had; Though it was sweet and gentle, when they molded their bodies together, re-creating the familiar feel of them embracing, touching, loving.<p>

And now it was quiet, peaceful, and exposed. Tali was laying on top of Shepard, her hands resting on his chest, and her head over his heart. He held a hand to her arm, gently stroking it back and forth, another hand on her head petting it gently. Their wrestling mat had served it's purpose, and then some. After what felt like an hour of vigorous sex, they laid awake but silent with each other. A cover Shepard had brought from their bed, wrapped around the pair of lovers to cover their more private features.

"Hmm... We'll have to get up sometime." Tali noted, speaking slurred with half of her mouth pressing against Shepard's chest. "Or... We could go again?" She proposed, sitting up to look down at Shepard with a suggestive smile on her dark-gray lips.

A series of knocks came from their door, startling the both of them. Now a voice yelled from outside their front door. "Hey! I've been pressing the doorbell for a while now... are you guys in there!" They recalled the voice of Davos, their messenger and fast-becoming friend. Most likely, their doorbell system wasn't working, forcing Davos to wait patiently outside their home after what could have been hours of pressing the broken doorbell.

Shepard and Tali looked nervous at each other, and quickly sprang to their feet, scrambling to find their missing clothes. "We'll be right with you, Davos! Just give us a second!" Tali called out to him, collecting her clothes and cover, and running upstairs to get changed. "Deal with him, Shepard." She strained a loud whisper, pointing violently at the door as she passed it and ran up the stairs. Not that she didn't like him, but she couldn't very well let him see her naked.

Shepard hopped into his boxers, and ran for the door, trying to look awake and cool. Opening the door once Tali was out of sight, and upstairs changing, he saw around a dozen people, only one of whom he knew. "Ah... Shepard, hello." Davos, the near fifty year old man said. "You're naked. Is this a bad time, we could come back later?" He asked, looking around Shepard's house awkwardly.

The dozen-or-so people Davos had with him all seemed to be related to him. It appeared as if he brought the entirety of his family with him. His wife was standing next to him, holding a baby in her arms; She was small, skinny, had brown hair, and wrinkles around her old face. Although she was probably only a few years younger than Davos, she looked as if she matched his age. She did look well for her age, despite the wrinkles, she was not an unattractive woman.

There were other kids behind them, most likely all of them being theirs. Their ages were at a rough estimate, five, ten, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-two. They all matched their parents hair and eyes, brown and blue, and were all boys.

An older member of their group, standing the farthest from the door, talking to the two youngest, smiling and joking with them. Shepard assumed this was Matthos, Davos' father.

_It's fine._ Shepard mouthed, patting Davos' shoulder, and giving him a small hug.

"Well I thank you then, but I'd appreciate you putting on some clothes." He gestured to Shepard's exposed torso and legs. "Else my lady reminisce about what I used to look like." He flexed his muscles lightly and jokingly, smiling at Shepard and looking to his wife.

"Oh, stop it, Davos." His wife gave a smile and pushed against him with her shoulder, stopping his jokes. "It would be nice if I could meet your wife. Find out what _the _Tali'Zorah looks like without her suit." His wife looked past Shepard, eying the room for the quarian she talked about.

_She's changing._ Shepard pointed behind himself and to the stairs with a thumb. _You can come in._ Shepard stepped aside, to allow the couple and their kids to enter, though he blocked the stairs and path to where Tali changed.

"I thank you again for your hospitality." Davos said, snapping his fingers to his kids, who filled into the house behind him, along with their grandfather. "Where should we make ourselves comforted at?" He asked, looking to the left where the kitchen was, and to the right into their living room. Shepard ticked his head to the living room, still blocking the stairs. "Alright kids, don't break anything! He hollered to his children, the youngest of which hopped around inside the house, until he made it to the couch, and plopped down on it. "If you break anything, I'll... I'll..."

"You'll what? You big softy, you wouldn't do a thing to them." His wife joked, tugging on his sleeve to make him come sit with her and a few of the kids on the couch. As he was being drug away, he waved up the stairs behind Shepard.

Shepard turned to see Tali, walking down with a hand holding the railing, dressed in casual attire. _Good, I'm gonna go get dressed._ He worded, looking at Tali, and moving past her.

"What are they here for?" She asked, brushing by Shepard, and peaking around and down the stairs to see the family settling in on their couch.

_I thought you'd know_. Shepard mouthed, slowly moving up the stairs as he looked down to her.

"Oh, yeah." She said quickly, and nodding fast. "I might have... invited them over for dinner, because they kinda saved my life." She said, twiddling with her fingers as if she wasn't allowed to invite people into their home without her husband's approval.

Shepard shrugged, and looked around awkwardly. _That's fine._

"Good. Now go get changed." She shooed him away with her hands, and pattered her way down the stairs and into the living room with the Seaworth family.

Shepard hopped into his usual wear, a plain shirt and jeans, walking down the stairs with his usual limp, and making his way into his unusually filled living room.

Tali was sitting cross-legged on the floor with the two youngest children, besides the baby, playing with toys. "Bang! Bang!" The five year old yelled, pointing a toy geth and it's gun at the dolls Tali held. "You're dead!" He squealed, trying to snatch the toys from her hands.

"Actually, you shot me in the arm, so I wouldn't be dead." Tali argued with the kid, smiling sarcastically and nodding mockingly. "I however, stabbed you in the gut, which means you'll bleed out soon unless you get medical attention right away." The little boy looked up to his dad, glossy eyed and about to cry.

"Daddy!" He whined. "The alien lady says I'm gonna die!" He started crying. He dropped the toys to the ground he sat on and rubbed at his eyes.

"Um... You'll be okay buddy." His dad poorly comforted him, and was about to get up to give him a physical form of affection, like a hug.

"I'm sorry." Tali said, scooting closer to the boy and pulling his small hands from his teared face. "Look." She said, holding up the male quarian toy of hers. "I died." She dropped it to the ground, landing with a thud that made the boy laugh.

"Yea! Dad, you killed him!" He cheered, smashing the human figure he apparently branded his father against the dead quarian. He clapped and embraced Tali in a quick hug. She slowly smiled, and patted the kid on the back, and stood up once she saw Shepard.

"Hello, John." She straightened her clothes and walked up to him, leaving the two boys to continue playing.

John felt indifferent about her affection toward the children, because John himself found it hard to like kids. Sure they could be cute like that one, but then they'd be little monsters in a few years, and major pains when they were teens.

He put on a smile, for Tali's sake, and wrapped his arms around her in a fast but loving hug. _He kicked your butt_. John taunted his wife, looking down at her as they hugged, and then parted.

"Yes he did, he's quite the warrior." She said, smiling and waving at the kid who did the same.

"I'm having my father, Maric, Daniel, Andrew, and Tommy set a table, as per Tali's orders." Davos said, standing up with his wife from the couch they sat at, speaking of their oldest children, in descending order, with Maric being the oldest of his first four kids.

Shepard nodded, and turned with Tali to walk to their table, holding her close. "Isn't he cute?" Tali asked, peaking behind her shoulder to see the little boy still playing with his ten year old brother.

John gave a flash of a smile, and nodded quickly, not actually giving an answer. He noticed her stare for a while, and then slowly look away, an awkward look on her face.

Walking into their kitchen, they saw a table cloth laid out over their counter, and the stools placed neatly around it. There was only room for eight, so a few people would have to stand. Eight plates laid out in front of every chair, with pairs of utensils with them. "Alright boys, settle in, it's time to eat!" Davos called to his children, the youngest of which came barreling in, giggling with their toys in hand.

Davos' four oldest pulled out the stalls for their elders, waiting on their next job. "Thank you." Tali said, sitting with Shepard on a side of the table, grabbing their silverware and getting ready to dig-in.

Davos, his wife, who's name was Marwa, both took seats across from Tali and Shepard. Their two youngest kids, five and ten years old, sat on their left. Matthos sat on their right, with no one to fill the last seat, because the oldest boys liked to stand apparently.

Tali's dinner, which was actually their breakfast since they had just woke up, was completely different looking from the other plates of food, being made for a Dextro stomach. The youngest boy, Allen was his name, was playing with his food. He picked at it with his fingers, flipping it around on it's tray and examining it as if it lived.

The human food consisted of mashed potatoes, pork-chop, peas, and a glass of water. The Seaworths, with the exception of the five year old, all cut their food and ate neatly and calmly. The boy Allen, prepared a chunk of mashed potatoes on his spoon, and held the handle of it like it was a catapult. He let it loose, chucking the food at Tali, hitting her on the side of the face. He started giggling, watching the splatted food slide off of Tali's face and hit her shirt and the table.

The surrounding people went silent, listening for Tali's response to the child's rudeness. They held their food in it's place, some holding the spoons still in their mouth as they waited for an argument or something violent to happen. Tali started to giggle and simply wiped the food off with a towel, and tossed it to the center of the table. "Good shot." She said smiling back at him, making others around her start to laugh with her. Luckily Tali had adopted to being around human foods and other items, so having some on her skin wouldn't actually hurt her, though eating some would be a different story.

Shepard thought to himself. _Hmm... maybe kids aren't that bad after all, at least this one is sweet and funny._

A quick food fight had ensued after first-blood was claimed, with Tali being the victor, after she had covered her enemies in her own food. The two youngest were wiping food from their bodies, cackling their high-pitched laugh. Their father had stopped the fight, after Tali had had enough and wanted it to end, though she found it funny. The three participants, Tali, and the two youngest children were now cleaned off and eating a new set of food. Thought the kid still didn't want to eat, and instead stared at Shepard as he ate.

"Are you dumb?" The little kid asked, putting his elbows on the table and resting his head on his hands.

"Allen?" His father questioned, looking up from his food and staring awkwardly at his son, wondering who he talked to.

"Like... why don't you talk?" He asked Shepard, turning his head inquisitively.

Davos didn't wait to see Shepard's reaction to the question, or the rest of the eaters'. "Allen!" Davos yelled, dropping his silverware onto his plate and glaring down at his son.

Tali shriveled up, not knowing how to respond to the kid's rude and inappropriate question. No doubt she questioned the kid's cuteness now, and is seeing him for the brat he possibly could be, though he was only five, and a question like that would be important to a little kid who didn't know any better. "What, I just wanted to know." He mumbled in a quiet tone, being hushed by his father's loud roar.

"Allen!" He snapped again, lifting his hand to the kid, though he didn't mean to strike him. He pulled the glove that covered his hand, revealing four short fingers and a regular sized thumb. "I'm I stupid because I can't pick things up?" He said, making the kid start to whimper. "Is your grandpa stupid because he can't walk right?" He pointed to Matthos, and to the leg and prosthetic that was currently hidden by the table.

"Nuh-nuh-no..." He said, wiping his eyes of the salty tear-water that clouded them.

His father rolled his eyes, and pointed down to his son's plate. "Eat." He commanded. His wife rubbed the kid on the back, trying to hush his crying. The kid shakily shook his head, disobeying his father's orders. "Eat, damn it!" His father yelled, now making the ten year old tear up, and the youngest cry even louder. Davos threw silverware down again, after knowing the kids wouldn't be quiet for a while.

Davos massaged his temples with his fingers on his full hand, and gave a loud sigh. "Come now, children." Matthos said, their grandfather and the oldest of the house's current occupants. He got up from his chair, and led the two crying children out of the room, and outside the front door.

Davos started to laugh, and stood up from his chair, pushing away from the table violently. "I'm sorry, Shepard, Tali." He said, giving a regretful and sorrowful look to them. "Children! We're leaving!" He yelled out, summoning all of his kids and family from the living room and kitchen.

"Davos, please." His wife pleaded, resting her hand on his forearm.

He jerked his hand away, and pointed upward for her to stand. "Nope, I knew this would happen." He let her stand, and took the baby from her arms and holding him in one hand. He placed the other hand around her back, leading her outside with the rest of his family. "I am sorry." He said to the Shepard family, not bothering to look back.

It had all happened so quickly. They all followed their father out, and moved towards the two cars they arrived in. Matthos though, had walked back in to give a few words before him and his family departed. "I hope he didn't upset you." He gave a kindly smile, looking to Tali and Shepard who had stood and walked to the door to watch the disgruntled father and his family prepare to leave.

_I understand. He's just a kid._ Shepard replied, still mad about the way the kid talked to him. Shepard shook his head in a non-verbal answer to Matthos' question, which made him smile.

"Good." He held out a hand for Shepard and Tali to shake. They took it, one after the other, and shook it slowly. "Davos has always respected you. So, when Allen talked to you like that, it obviously upset him. Upset him that his own blood would say something so rude, no matter his age. Davos even talked with us, making sure we wouldn't say anything hurtful, though Allen apparently has a short memory." He looked as kind as Santa Claus would be, and as pious as a preacher, with the way he smiled and nodded.

"We'll be fine. We've put up with bigger threats and ruder people than him before." Tali reassured him.

"I'm glad to hear it. We might drop by another time, maybe without so many little-ones." He turned, readying himself to leave the house, with his son, Davos, beckoning him with a wave. "And, Shepard..." He said, turning around to see him one last time for the day. Shepard lifted his head high to hear the old man's final goodbye. Though he gave advice instead of a goodbye. "Don't let what people say hurt you. Embrace it. Wear it like armor, then it can never be used to hurt you." He departed, giving the same kindly smile that usually occupied his face, and nodded to leave. It may have been good advice, but it wasn't as simple as not letting what people say bother you, it was much harder to overcome than that, at least Shepard thought it would be.

They had left as quick as they came, flying away with all of their kin aboard, leaving Tali and Shepard alone again. "They seemed nice, I liked the little kid, didn't you?" Tali asked in a sweet tone, as if she was buttering him up to ask him something else. She really seemed to like the kid, even though she's only spent a few hours with him. He slowly turned his head to her, and gave her a look that said she was crazy. "What?" She asked, her expression blank now. He squinted his eyes at her and then looked away, letting go of her. "Come on, maybe we can do something a little fun." She proposed, trying to pull him back by his arm. He turned to stare at her again, still as if she was crazy. "You know... sex." She said, giggling at the word and smirking up at him.

_No. _He responded, shaking his head again.

"W-what do you mean... _no?_" She asked, also shaking her head, mostly in anger though.

_I mean... no_. He mouthed, turning around to walk into the kitchen.

"You can't just say no. I got a sex card thingy... remember?" She asked him, trying to pull off her shirt, though he stopped her by grasping her hands.

_No_. He said again, looking down at her. She didn't know what to think of it, and pushed off of him, storming up the stairs and mumbling foul words to him.

"You can be a real inconsiderate ass sometimes, you know that?" She yelled out, climbing the stairs and going into their bedroom.

_Oh, yeah. Well, you can be a... a... a... God damn it! I can't think of anything wrong with you._ He would have been yelling, if he had a voice to yell with, instead he stomped his foot on the ground in anger, and jerked his fists. She couldn't see what he was trying to say, because by that time she had already slammed the door and was inside their room, silent.

Shepard trudged his way into the kitchen, sitting down near the messy table. _What's wrong with her? Does me not wanting to have sex with her really make her that mad? Or is it something else? I don't know what it could be, because she hasn't told me about anything that's made her mad. In fact, I thought she was pretty happy, all up until that point. So, it has to be that I denied her. What else could it be? Maybe she thinks I don't like her anymore, or that she's not... sexually appealing to me. But, we literally just got done having sex a few hours ago, in our work-out room. What's her problem?_ Shepard thought, the entire house silent now, clear for him to empty his mind of it's questions. He thew his hands in the air, and made himself busy with cleaning up the table, now that Tali wasn't likely to talk with him for a while.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> there's a lot of members to that Seaworth family, so hopefully you kinda kept track of who's who. It can be hard to keep track when they have really weird names like Davos, and Matthos, but hopefully you understand. And yes, it's too bad things went from lovie dovie to both of them... "yelling" at each other, hopefully it works out... I know if it will, and you don't... well you might :)

Also, there may or may not have been some foreshadowing in this chapter, maybe you can find it. :) Till next week, bye-bye.


	12. A Seaworthy Day

**Note: **So, there's some more fluff this chapter, though it's probably not the type of fluff you'd expect, and by that I mean the participants of the fluff probably aren't the ones you'd think. Of course there's still a little Tali Shepard fluff though.

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><p>"You awake, honey?" The man said, opening his bedroom door and seeing his wife's body uncovered and laying on his bed. She was laying with her head resting on several pillows, with a desk light on next to her, her feet crossed over each other, and in her hands a book that she read.<p>

The room was dark, despite the single dim light that came from his wife's nightlight. Green curtains were blowing gently from the wind entering through the window, looking like a ghost fluttering by their square window. The room was cluttered, with a desk accompanied by a chair, two dressers, two end tables, their large bed, and a tall mirror occupying most of the space.

"Took you long enough." She responded, patting a spot on the bedside. "Long day?" She asked him, giving him a smile with her tight thin lips.

"Ah... a little." He unlatched a belt on his apparel of a white dress shirt and tan slacks, tossing it and a gun attached into a dresser drawer. "Someone claimed that some package wasn't theirs, so I had to run around town trying to find the right family it belonged to." Davos Seaworth smiled to his wife, and unzipped his pants to let them fall to the ground.

"Well, you're home now. Now, get into bed and rest." She demanded of him, patting his spot harder on the bed.

"Yes, ma'am." He chuckled, unbuttoning his shirt and walking over to her.

He sat down and threw off his white dress shirt. Crawling under the covers and throwing them over his wife, he was ready to slumber, and repeat the process of delivering items for the Qwib Qwib town the next day. "Goodnight, Davos." She said to him, turning off her nightlight, and tossing her book onto the same desk.

"Goodnight Marya." He said in a hushed voice, turning away from her and hugging the warm covers close to his chest.

Davos' eyes slowly started to close, dragging down in a dreary state, he sighed and rubbed at the bags under his sleepy eyes. "You know what we haven't done in a while?" His wife's voice called to him, prompting him to turn and meet her with his eyes.

"I haven't slept in a while." He mumbled, tossing in the bed and facing her. "What are you doing?" He asked her, his eyes squinting at her in the dark, thinking he saw her hand stuffed in her desk drawer.

"Getting something." She chuckled, smirking at him, her lips pursing out as she smiled, making a duck-lip type smile.

Her hand surfaced from the drawer, a reflective and rubbery like object in her hands, wrapped in a square plastic. She tossed it over to him, landing by his hands.

"That." She responded.

He looked down at it, turning his head until he realized what the object was. "It's been a while since I've seen one of these bad-boys." He picked it up with his hand, holding it in between two of his fingers and rotating it in front of his eyes.

"Well..." She said impatiently, hiding her hands under the cover, beginning to undress herself. "Put it on. Or did you forget how to?" She mocked him, smiling the odd pursed lip look.

"It's like riding a bike. Except you're the bike." He said, ripping the condom's wrapper off, the couple shared a laugh.

"You're funny." She responded.

"Daddy!" They heard their youngest son's voice shriek out, bursting through their door and climbing onto their bed. His tiny arms tried to reach the top of the bed, mercilessly whacking them at the end of the bed.

"What is it Allen!" Davos' wife yelled, quickly pulling up her undergarments she had mostly off.

"I had a bad dream!" He screamed, his mother pulling him up onto their bed and putting him in between his parents.

Davos quickly threw away the condom, hiding it in his desk drawer. _I love you Allen, but daddy really wanted to relieve some stress, and you messed it all up. _Davos thought to himself, putting on a concerned face for his poor scared son.

"What happened in it?" She asked him, hugging him close and staring at her husband in a serious look, telling him to help comfort their son.

"There we-we-were a bu-bunch of ba-ba-ba-bad guys that tri-tried to hurt som-som-somebody and da-daddy!" He wailed, sobbing into his mother's pink t-shirt. "The-there we-were so ma-many of them!" He muttered some more words in a yell, though they were indescribable due to his frightened nature and quick rapid breaths.

"Your daddy's okay, see." She turned Allen to see his father, who smiled at his son.

"I'm okay buddy." He messed this kid's hair with a hand, and patted him on the shoulder. "Remember, your dad's a hero, no one can hurt him." He may have stretched the truth a bit, but his son liked it.

"Good!" He squealed, throwing his tiny arms around his father's shoulders, and squeezing tight. "Can I sleep here though, I'm still kinda scared?" He asked, looking to his mother for an answer instead of his father.

"Sure, get under the covers." She lifted their covers, her son snugging under them and falling quiet immediately.

He laid facing his dad, a brown furry teddy bear close to his face, cuddling it tight with his arms strangling it. _Damn. It's been like... months since we've made love. Maybe I could get a friend to babysit the kids sometime, that'd give me and Marya some... alone time._ Davos shut his eyes, and played out how a sexual interaction between him and his wife would play out once the kids were out of the picture. _Oh, Marya... you dirty girl. He-he-he._ His lips curved to a tiny smile, thinking about his wife, and wondering who would take the kids off their hands for a day or two.

* * *

><p>Now it was morning, the curtains stopped fluttering in Davos' bedroom, and an orange light shown in through the hole.<p>

He rolled to his side, to face his wife and son, but they weren't there. He blinked rapidly at where they should be, and even checked under the covers for them, but found no one.

A shrill and tired woman's voice yelled to him from another room. "Breakfast is ready!" _Oh, breakfast._ He hopped up from the bed, slipped on his work clothes to start the process of his day, and made for the spiral staircase.

He ran to the start of the stairs, looking down two levels of his three story house. _Mmm... bacon._ He smelt the steamy aroma coming from the bottom floor kitchen, crawling into his nose and filling it with the smell of his favorite food. Licking his lips, he lifted a foot to take a single step down the stairs.

"Yeah! Breakfast!" His youngest children came running at him from their bedrooms, giggling and drooling.

"Uh-oh." He muttered as his kids paraded by him, pushing him out of the way, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Watch out, children." Matthos, Davos' father said to the kids, walking from his bedroom into his work room. Matthos didn't technically have a real job, he just puttered around in his work room, concocting medicines and other medical things. Matthos' leg had gotten worse, after taking a knife to the stomach, he cramped up a lot, so he now walked with a cane. Limping into his room with his shiny silver cane, he closed the door behind him, locking him inside his workplace.

"You snooze you lose, daddy!" The five year old yelled at him, waddling his tiny feet down the stairs._ You heartless kid, first you take away sex from me, and now my bacon._ Davos thought, as he pouted down the stairs, knowing he wouldn't get a full plate of their already scarce supplies.

"There you are, honey. You're late by-the-way." His wife said to him, placing plates of bacon and eggs on the large table for their seven kids.

His house may have been tall, but it was by no means expensive or rich in items. It was cluttered by cheap, large, and old furniture. Old pictures of the family clouded the walls, from when their oldest son at 22 was only two; Pictures of the family at vacation sites, from the Citadel to Earth; And even a picture of when his wife and him were only in their 20's and married, both of them looking younger and fitter than they were now.

"Yeah, I know. Just let me get a quick bite." He groaned, walking over to the table, as his littlest son looked up at him and pulled his father's chair close to himself. "I'm sitting there, Allen." He told his son, trying to pull the seat away.

"No, this is where Tim sits." he pulled the chair back with surprising strength for a five year old. No one occupied the seat, at least no one Davos could see.

"But... No, this is my chair and I'm sitting in it. You're imaginary friend can sit on the floor." Davos demanded, pulling the chair out of his son's grip.

His son began to tear up, his lip shaking and tears starting to drip from his face.

Davos' wife noticed and gave him a stern demanding look. "Davos." She grumbled to him.

"But..." She pointed a fork she held in her hands at the chair, telling him to give it up. "Fine." He pushed the chair back to Allen. "Here you go, Tim. I'm sorry if I upset you." He apologized to the air above the seat, pretending for his son that he could see him.

"Don't lie, daddy. I know you can't see him." His son talked through stuffing his face full of yellow smashed eggs and brown crispy bacon. _Pfft... Tim. More like The Imaginary Man. Ha, I'm so good at acronyms._

"Here you go, honey." His wife handed him a small plate of the same food his kids ate, and pecked him on his brown-gray bearded face. "See you soon."

"Bye, everyone." He said, waving and taking his plate with him to his work place. His kids waved and mumbled their goodbyes to their dad, and went back to filling their stomachs.

* * *

><p>Davos had been on the road for an hour or two now, having finished his food, and needing to deliver only one more package.<p>

He stuffed his empty plate into his satchel, and looked at the address on the small package. Reading it in his head, he knew the recipients and smiled at it. "The Shepard's."

* * *

><p>Shepard was laying on the couch, banning himself from his own bedroom until Tali calmed down about whatever it was that upset her.<p>

His TV on, and flashing lights around the dark living room as he watched a quarian program. His head resting on an arm rest, as he looked at the TV, watching the quarian's version to a game show.

"Welcome back to Rannoch's Biggest Bosh'tet. If you're just joining us, Mamo'Nerol was just about to answer a question. Remember, if she gets this wrong, then she loses the game and gets declared Rannoch's biggest bosh'tet for the week." The quarian announcer spoke fast with a microphone most likely attached to his bright vibrant clothing, a huge cheesy smile on his face, not a very good actor. His hair jelled and spun upward into a goofy look. "Lets see how it goes." He said, pointing behind him to a set where three quarians stood, only one of them female, so she was probably Mamo'Nerol.

The game show set was themed in pinks and yellows, similar to the clothing the host wore. Bulbs of lights repeated flashing colors of white, circling in frequency around a board that said 'Rannoch's Biggest Bosh'tet'.

"Name five quarian ships still with the Admiralty, and part of the quarian fleet." A geth's synthesized voice asked the question, standing off screen somewhere.

"Um..." She started, twirling her long shaded pink hair with her fingers, gulping before she spoke again. "The Neema."

"That's one." The host said, smiling again. "Only four more."

"The Something?" She responded the worst and dumbest answer she could have, smiling scared and lifting her shoulder in a shrug. The least she could have done was try to make up a real ship, not say 'The Something.'

"I'm sorry... but that's incorrect. You know what that means!" He yelled to the crowd, pretending to pout and feel bad for the girl, though a mischievous smile crept onto his face.

"She's a bosh'tet!" The crowd yelled from off-screen.

The girl shut her eyes tight, and lifted her arms to her face to defend herself from something. The other two male contestants ran from the set, afraid of something in the crowd.

A barrage of projectiles hit the woman, filled with a sticky, slimy, blue liquid. Splatting against her and nearly knocking her to the ground, she was drenched in the odd type of slime from the crowds balloons. _That's terribly humiliating._ Shepard thought, but couldn't help but silently laugh at the girl.

"That's it for this weeks episode, tune in next week and find out... Who's the biggest bosh-" Shepard changed the channel, rolling his eyes at the host that mirrored every human game show host.

The next show that popped on was some type of wrestling. Though the fighters weren't male, but female, and splotched with a muddy substance. Dressed in skimpy clothing, though the brown sticky mud covered most of their skin, they lunged at each other, grunting and moaning as they struggled to bring each other down. _Quarian mud wrestling. Now I've seen it all._ Shepard thought, sticking around to see most of the show.

The girls pushed against each other, their arms locked and muscles shaking, tiring. The taller of the two girls pushed the other to the ground, and jumped on her, pushing her further into the muddy floor they fought on. Everywhere that wasn't the stage was dark, but males of many races could be seen cheering the girls on in the background, throwing credit chits around and betting on the winner, while some just stared creepily.

A quarian referee seemed to be counting how long the girl on bottom was pinned, and clapped his hands after a few more counts. "She's out!" Half the crowd cheered, while the others moaned in upset, handing over credit chits to the correct betters.

The lights in the background came on, showing all of the male on-lookers, the stands filled with quarians, humans, turians, salarians, volus, and even a few krogan. The quarian girls stood and smiled at each other, no hard feelings between them. They moved closer to each other, and pecked the opposite's lips, making the crowd of men roar in cheers, whistles, and applause.

"Who would dare take on these beautiful young ladies? Does any single one of you men have the testosterone to take down these simple flowers? No one! The prize for beating them is one thousand Creds!" He yelled, catching the attention of a few human friends, who seemed to be arguing amongst themselves. "No one! Then I guess it's ov-"

"Wait!" A large, short haired, heavy human man yelled, jogging down to the ring. "I'll do it!"

"Looks like you've got some fresh meat girls!" The black and white clothed quarian yelled to the girls, who hopped with joy, smiling down at the man. "Good luck, big-guy." The referee said to the human man and quickly attached a microphone to his shirt. He crawled onto the base of the ring, his feet now muddy from the floor.

"Gee, you girls sure are pretty." He said to the women, who moved to him, petting him with their hands. Rubbing a hand each around his body, and another of their hands on their own bodies, cleaning themselves of mud.

"You ready big-boy?" One of the girls asked him in a seductive tone.

"Am I ready she says, you know it gorg-" Each of the girls kicked at the back of his knees, bending him to the floor, collapsing and covering in mud. "Oh, you wanna play rough! Johnie can play rough!" He roared, swatting at their feet, and dropping them to the muddy floor as well. More girls in swimsuits climbed into the ring, and toppled the man to the ground, keeping him there as the others got to their feet. Mud flew and the girls screamed, continuing the fight as the large human under them screamed for a respite.

They continued their fight, only until Shepard grew bored of it did it end, as he turned the channel.

Now on the news, he watched a story for a second, listening to the reporters talk of a murder. "The quarians did escape, though they are being hunted for. If you didn't hear it yet, the quarians in question murdered a human man for being involved with a qua-" _Pfft... even on Rannoch there's filth like that around the streets._ He thought and turned the TV off before the reporter could finish the statement, making it go black.

_I better go check on Tali, make sure she's okay._ Shepard thought, standing to his feet and making his way for their bedroom, her last location since their fight. Walking up the stairs and accidentally making loud thumps on the floor, he knew she'd know he was coming.

Making it to the top floor, he knocked on the door and waited for permission. He waited and waited, no answer came. Knocking on the door again, this time louder in case she was sleeping. He had to solve this little dispute now, lest it grow into something worse. He waited again for an answer, tapping his foot on the floor outside their room.

He heard little footsteps come closer, through the other side of the door, he knew it was Tali. "What's the password?" She asked, suppressing a giggling sound after. _At least she's in a better mood._ Shepard thought, rolling his eyes at her question.

He knocked again, hearing her giggle a second time. Opening the door, she stood in front of him, her eyes drowsy and tired, though she seemed awake and happy. _Hi._ Shepard mouthed, smiling at her. _You okay?_ He asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I got so mad." She apologized, part of her mouth curling in an apologetic smile.

_Are you kidding me? It was my_ fault. He smacked his hand against his chest, nodding to her._ I have a gorgeous wife like you wanting to have sex with me and I said no... what was I thinking? _He asked her, his eyes widening and lips smiling in a joking way.

"That's true. Sometimes you can be thick-headed." They only smiled at each other for a few seconds until she said something else. "Wanna_ do it_ now?" She asked, pulling on his shirt and winking at him. He nodded to her, making her hop once and turn to go back inside the bedroom. "Great! I'll get changed into something sexy and be right down!" She quickly began undressing and looked to him. "Go! I'll be down soon!" She yelled at him, pointing down the stairs. _Apparently we're doing it on the couch? _He thought, nodding and walking down the stairs.

He saw someone approaching to their front door, looking through the glass around the door frame, he thought it was their only delivery guy, Davos.

Shepard opened up the door before he could ring the bell, and smiled at him. _Hello, Davos._

"Oh, that was quick, were you expecting me?" He asked, looking surprised Shepard got to the door so fast. He shook his head at Davos and looked down to the box in his hands. "Oh yeah. Another delivery for you." He held it out at arm's length to Shepard, who took it gladly.

_Thank you._ Shepard returned, moving out of the way of the door so Davos could see fully into their house, setting the box on a desk nearby.

"Oh Shepard..." Tali cooed. Tip-toeing down the stairs in–in her opinion–the sexiest and finest underwear she had available. A lacy black bra, an extremely short black skirt and purple thong underneath, and over it all a thin, black, mostly see through night gown.

Davos looked to where the noise came from, and saw Tali in her near naked form. She saw him look quickly, squint at her and realize who she was, they both quickly covered their bodies. Davos shot his hands up to his eyes and looked to the ground. Tali let out a shriek and covered her breasts with an arm, and tried to stretch her skirt down to cover her body more fully. "Shepard!" They both yelled, pointing at each other.

Shepard looked to Tali, and then to Davos, quickly moving in front of Davos to shield Tali, he shooed her away with a hand. "I'm so sorry." Davos let out quickly, keeping his eyes closed and pointed to the ground. Tali squeaked again and ran upstairs.

Shepard found a credit chit on a table, held it out to Davos and tapped his shoulder. _Quickly._ Shepard mouthed once Davos looked to him.

Davos lifted a device and swiped the card through it, turning around quickly and leaving Shepard alone with his wife. "Sorry! Tell Tali I'm sorry too!"

Shepard quickly closed the door and turned to the stairs, hearing Tali yell out to him. "Is he gone!" Shepard walked up the stairs and found her inside the bedroom, sitting down on the bed and waiting for an answer.

Shepard nodded, and walked over to her. _Hopefully that didn't sour the mood?_ Shepard asked, smiling awkwardly.

"It did a little bit." She admitted, folding her arms over her breasts. Shepard nodded, standing and going to walk downstairs to the couch again. "Hey!" She called to him, grabbing his arm and standing. "I didn't get all dressed up just to have you leave."

_What's the point of even getting dressed when I'm just going to rip it all off of you?_ He asked, raising an eyebrow and lifting the silk cloth that covered her body.

"Shut up and get to work." She demanded, lifting his shirt off his body after he lifter her gown off.

* * *

><p><em>That was some seriously weird stuff.<em> Davos thought, opening the door to his house and walking in. _Though I have to congratulate Shepard and Tali, they have an active sex life, while I got... kids. _He closed the door and kicked off his shoes, climbing the spiral stair case of his tightly knit house, and making it to his bedroom.

Peeling off his shirt and dropping his pants, he crawled into bed beside his wife, who was motionless and breathing lightly. Covering himself he shifted to get comfortable, waking his wife in the process. "Mmm... how was work, honey?" She asked him, her eyes closed as she turned and latched onto his body with her arms, scooting close to him and combining their body's warmth.

"Oh, same-old, same-old. I talked to John Shepard for a bit..."

"That's nice." She responded, half asleep.

"And then I saw his wife, Tali, half naked in her underwear."

"That nice-what?" She broke her sleepy trance and drew her eyes open to him.

"Yup, I guess they were about to... get it on, and I kinda interrupted."

"And?" She asked him, propping her head up with an arm and looking down at him.

"And... nothing, I averted my eyes and ran. I hope I didn't upset them."

She nodded at his answer and laid back down, facing their ceiling. "Is she pretty?" She asked her husband, a sad tone to her voice.

Davos looked to her, unblinking and serious. "She doesn't even compare to you." He admitted, completely serious. "Quarians aren't my type."

"Oh." She said, a smile taking her lips, and a blush her cheeks. "Who is your type then?"

"That's an easy one." He responded, moving his hands under the cover and exploring her body, his large hands squeezing a breast through her shirt.

"Oh!" She yipped, jumping in surprise at his action.

"You are." He placed a kiss on her lips, one she quickly returned in surprise.

"I love you." She responded while kissing him, pulling him off of her and crawling on top of him.

"The kids?" He asked, as she mounted him, pulling off her shirt.

"I told your dad to take them for a drive, they should be at the park now, so we have the night to ourselves."

"Good." He responded, twirling her around to be underneath him, with him on top and both of them smiling at each other. "I love you too." He wrapped her legs around his waist, and bent down to place another kiss on her lips.


	13. Day at the Beach

**Note:** So this is another big one. I've worked on it all day, and think I got most of the spelling in order. Hopefully you like it. There's a good amount of fluff in this, so you're welcome!

* * *

><p>Shepard was laying awake in the bed he shared with his wonderful wife, Tali, after sharing other things with each other a few hours earlier. It was technically morning, though it was pitch black outside their bedroom window.<p>

They were facing each other, Tali's eyes closed and Shepard's open as he examined her.

Her face was indifferent and blank as she slept, lightly breathing. Parts and strands of her long, black, and purple shining hair was strewn in her face, messy but clean hair. She opened her mouth wide, her eyes tightening close, she squeaked out a mousy and light yawn. She had sharp white teeth, many more canines than humans had. Her pointed red tongue twitched in her mouth as she yawned, eventually closing and tasting the air as she clomped her lips together.

Shepard smiled at her cute little yawn, and poked her small nose with a finger. _You're so cute._ He thought about her.

She scrunched up her face when he poked her nose, and as reflex moved her hands out to grab for something. She pulled the cover from his side and enveloped herself in it. Smiling contently she pulled the fabric close to her and started breathing lightly again in her sleep.

Simple times like this is what Shepard loved. He liked it more than the sex they had, which was odd for a man to think, but he did. After all, he didn't fall in love with her because he thought he would eventually be having sex with her. He never could have known that they could actually have safe sexual intercourse that wouldn't lead to her death, but he was glued to her emotionally anyway. He fell in love with her because of her cute behavior, fierce attitude, strong personality, quick wits, extensive knowledge, innocent tone, and shy posture; All of which he can't have sex with. Though, the sex was of course a major bonus to their relationship.

She tossed in the bed, shaking lightly and facing the ceiling now. "Bosh'tets..." She grumbled in a quiet tone. _Aw... She's dreaming, that's so cute._ He thought as he watched her have some type of battle in her dreams. "Burn you bastards... burn..." She growled and let out an odd chuckle. _Not so cute anymore... A little creepy._ Shepard thought, his smile still on his face. _Wonder what she's dreaming about?_ He asked himself rhetorically.

He crawled out of bed, leaving his wife in her moody dream-state, mumbling more things and chuckling in between.

He grabbed a black N7 t-shirt from his dresser drawer, slipping the cloth on over his scarred body. He slid some gray sweatpants on, and closed the drawer.

He left the room after giving Tali one last glance, her body was mostly still now, and she seemed calm and at rest. With a smile at that he found it okay to leave. He exited quietly, shutting the door slowly, and walking downstairs to make breakfast for Tali and himself.

* * *

><p>"Burn, you bosh'tet spiders!" Tali yelled down to the arena-like pit filled with tiny spiders. Her jeweled three fingered hands resting on the railing of the pit, looking down and pointing at the spiders as they were roasted alive by quarian soldiers with flame-throwers from above. "Stupid bugs."<p>

A quarian man approached Tali, with a tablet in his hands, making sure to avoid eye contact with Tali. "Admiral. There's a message-"

"I thought I told you to address me as, Grand-Supreme-Ruler-Queen-Admiral." She scolded the man, her head high in pride as she looked at him.

"I'm sorry... Grand-Supreme-Ruler-Queen-Admiral. But, The Grand-Supreme-Ruler-King-Admiral requests your presence in your chambers." The humble man shyly whispered, backing away from the well-dressed leader as he talked

"Does he now..." She said with a lustful smile for her husband. "Tell him I'm heading there now." Tali spun on her heels, turning to face the

"Yes, your grace." The man gave a bow and left her to walk the streets.

Tali dusted off her enviro-suit with a hand as she walked, waving to the commoners along her path to Zorah Castle.

She wore her usual suit, except it was adorned with bright shining gems, rubies, diamonds, and other various colored stones. Straps and belts were made in a golden color and replaced her usual silver belts. Her cloth that wrapped around her body was now more intricate, lighter purple designs traced the fabric in random directions. Her helmet wasn't attached to the suit, leaving her head covered only by a silver tiara; It was made to look like a plants vine, thin and in a circlet, with the buds of flowers actually purple amethysts.

The rocks that lined her path to the castle were pure orange, and the flowers that laid parallel on the path were various shades of blues, purples, and greens. Swirls of pink clouds were in the sky, with an atmosphere of pure white, and a huge yellow sun.

She skipped her way through the orange-bricked road, swinging her arms happily, and humming the theme to Fleet and Flotilla.

"Your grace." A krogan addressed the Queen in his deep voice.

"What? Oh, hello Kitty!" She squealed at Kitty, who was Wrex, with a nickname given from Tali.

"You shouldn't be walking to the castle, climb on and I can carry you." He said, turning around and kneeling down so she could climb on his back.

"Awesome!" She yelled, jumping onto the hump of his krogan back and keeping her arms secured on the pieces of his armor. "To the castle! Go, Kitty! Go!"

Keeping her steady on his back, he jogged to the castle, with her on his back and looking in awe at the sky.

After making it to the gates, they saw blocking their path a mob of women. The mob was made up of every type, from humans, to krogan, women of every race were here for some reason. "Who are they... and what are they doing at my castle?" Tali growled, squinting her eyes at the ladies.

"It seems to be the John Shepard fan-club. They were schedules to come here and get signings from him." Wrex replied plainly.

"Hmm... we'll see about that." Tali said, a devious and murderous smile on her face as she nodded slowly.

"What will you do?" Wrex said to bring her evil thoughts to words.

"Run them over... Run them _all_ over."

"Yes, my Queen." Wrex dug his foot into the dirt, scratching the claws on rocks as he prepared to charge.

He kicked off from the ground, charging at Tali's enemies with the speed of the Normandy, the strength of a thresher maw, and the force of a dreadnaught.

The girls ahead where now as still as bowling pins, and waiting for the bowling ball to take them out. They looked on in shock as Wrex barreled into them, finally pushing through them and knocking most of them into the moat that surrounded Zorah Castle.

"Ha-ha! Stupid bosh'tets!" Tali laughed at them, nearly falling off of Wrex as she pointed at them in mockery. "Now, into the castle!" She commanded, pointing him through the gates.

He did as was told, once the guards made way and opened the door.

"That'll be all, Kitty, I can walk from here." She said, patting him on the back and hoping off. "Thank you!" She yelled to him as he walked away.

"Of course, my Queen." He said giving a bow.

Tali walked through the corridors of Zorah Castle. They looked strangely familiar, as if they were copied and pasted from the Normandy's halls and rooms.

She found herself at the end of a hall, a large door in front of her, made of a shining metal. She pressed a button next to the dual doors, making them open on command, and revealing the inside of her grand bedroom.

It was a rescaled and remodeled version of the bedroom she shared with Shepard in real life, with better furniture, and more space.

Shepard walked from a corner of the room, smiling at his wife, and taking a seat on the edge of their large bed. He patted a spot on the bed next to him, beckoning her to him.

He wore his Alliance armor, though he had a crown on his head, a simple gold ring with few white diamonds placed randomly on the edges of it. He also had a cloak on, with the clasps in the front and on his shoulders, it was a red cloth.

"How have you been this evening?" She asked, taking the short walk to the bed and joining him.

He looked to her and nodded once. _Fine._ He mouthed the words.

Everything was perfect in her dream. She murdered spiders, had a beautiful world to live on, beat up fangirls of Shepard's, and got to see her husband every day. It was quite the same as her actual life, and she was okay with that, because she was as they say, 'living the dream'.

Shepard didn't need a voice in her dreams, because she loved him for who he is, she didn't need him to actually talk to her. She might have hated to admit it, but it could be because she herself was forgetting what he used to sound like.

A babies wails and crying started, making the couple look to the corner where a crib was stationed. "Has the little ankle-bitter been giving you trouble?" She asked him, smiling at the crib where their child was at.

Shepard's shoulders hugged his neck, and he shook his head. _Not really. Though milk should help keep the peace._ He said looking down and pointing to her unusually large breasts.

"If you want milk, there's some in the kitchen." She taunted him, covering her chest with her hands. "This is for my baby."

He didn't do anything more but smile, letting her leave and tend to their child.

She got up and made her way to their offspring, unclasping part of her chest piece as she was preparing to feed the baby. Everything she ever wanted was here now.

* * *

><p>Now her world was at a 90 degree angle, looking on at a wall and empty side of a bed as she awoke. She was awake, and she knew it, as much as she wish she wasn't. She let out a sigh, throwing the covers from her body. <em>I wish Shepard wanted kids. That would make adopting a lot easier. But, he doesn't want any, so I shouldn't.<em>

She pulled an omni-table from her dresser, sitting it on her lap and turning it on. An orange glow emanated from it as she put a command into it. _Quarian adoption clinics. _She typed in, loading a screen of clinics based on Rannoch.

_It's the last thing I want. The last thing that will make my dream come true. Surely if I tell John that this is what I want, he'll let me have one. Won't he?_ She argued in her head, sighing again at the tablet and closing it. _I spent all of last night looking up this stuff. I need something else to do with my day. _She thought, hiding the tablet back inside her drawer and shading it from her world inside the table.

Some crashing sounds came from downstairs, making Tali jump from the bed and stare at the closed door in a frightened shock. _What's happening? Is something going on down there? Is John fighting someone? _Possible explanations ran through her head, as she prepared to run to his rescue, slipping on her purple robe and whipping the door open.

* * *

><p><em>Now... what would Tali want to eat? <em>He asked himself, the fridge door opened and shining a bright yellow light into the dark kitchen.

A soft steady ringing sound came from the table. Shepard spun around from the fridge, seeing a faint orange light come from a panel on the table. He quickly acted, making sure the sound didn't wake his sleeping lover. Lunging his hand out, he whacked the talk button on the phone, allowing a voice to pass through the device.

"Hey, it's my favorite actors." An older man's voice came through, laughing after he spoke. "I just wanted you to know, the movie's going to be out soon. The writers just have to edit a few things and then it's coming to the big screen, it shouldn't take that long, and trust me they'll make it even better than what I did with it. We sent you a free copy in the mail, it should have arrived yesterday morning." The director from Fleet and Flotilla Three, Shepard smiled as he talked, remembering the odd time he had on the set with him and the others. "Uh... is anyone there?"

_What the hell am I supposed to do? Should I click my tongue, chatter my teeth, or tap the desk to answer him in morse code?_

"Hello? Nobody... I'll just leave this as a message then. It was really nice working with you two again, I hope you've been having a good time since you left." He waited a few seconds before he hang up. "Um... alright, see ya." The light disappeared and it was quiet.

Shepard stared down at the thing, breathing slow and hard, gritting his teeth in anger. What came next was just a quick impulse of anger, after building up from quite a while of putting up with this condition.

He slammed his fist down onto the phone screen, cracking it in three spots. He stumbled over a stool as he hit the device, enraging him that the chair got in his way, but mostly just using it as another means to relieve his anger. He kicked it across the room, slamming into his kitchen counter and opening a drawer as it fell.

He stopped slamming and flailing his arms like a stupid upset kid and realized he was being stupid.

He picked the stool back up and sat in it, looking down at the table miserably. He ran a hand through his hair and saw a message pop up on the phone screen. He opened it and heard a pair of feet come stepping down the stairs to the bottom floor. "Shepard? You okay?" Tali asked, holding her robe closed and looking into the room at him.

He looked up at her and gave a nod. _Just tripped._ He lied, not ready to tell her of his little tantrum, and how upset not having a voice made him. The light from the fridge made his mouth and words visible to Tali

She slowly walked her way over to him, sitting across from him and noticing it looked like more than a simple trip. "You sure?" She asked quietly and shyly, pushing her arms across the table to him, palms up and waiting for his.

He grabbed her hands and held them at the center of the table. _I'm sure._ He smiled and nodded.

"Good." She said cheerily, pulling her arms away from him and into her lap. "What's that message?" She asked, looking down to the again green glowing screen.

Shepard remembered the message and looked down to read it.

_Hey you lovebirds. We'll be coming over in a few hours to see you. Kasumi said she found a beach-type-thingy on Rannoch not far from you guys, we're hoping we can have a little day at a spa, kick back and relax. -Joker_

_P.S. If you get this message a little late... because Shepard was busy Tali-whacking... then we'll be there soon... so get ready!_

Shepard read it in his head, and nodded slowly taking in the words.

While Shepard was reading it he hadn't noticed Tali over his shoulder, reading the message with him. "Tali-whacking?" She asked, putting a finger on the word, and over the cracked screen which she no doubt suspected something odd happened with.

_Oh God... I never should have told Joker that's what I call it._ Shepard thought, smiling oddly at Tali.

"Well?" She pushed him to answer, cocking her head and resting her hands on her hips.

_I love you._ He worded with a polite smile.

"Mmm-hmm... That's what I thought you'd say." She moved from the table and went for the stairs, stopping at the base and looking back to Shepard. "Come on, we have to get changed, we're going swimming after all. Oh... and bring your _Tali-whacker_ with you." She mocked in an annoyed but playful tone, walking up the stairs.

_If everyone's coming over, I think I got a little plan. That is, if Garrus is coming as well. I promised to introduce him to someone._ Shepard entered the name of a recipient into the messaging device, typed up a quick message and hit send. _Perfect._

He looked back up to where Tali was heading, knowing she'd be a little upset that he talked with people like Joker about their sex-life. _I'm in trouble. Probably shouldn't have made up a name for having sex with Tali. Oh well._ He followed her upstairs to get changed for their day at the beach.

* * *

><p>It was bright outside now, Rannoch's bright sun beating down on the cars outside Shepard estates. "They're here! You ready!" Tali called to Shepard, who was on the couch watching another news program about humans being murdered.<p>

He didn't answer, instead he got up from the couch, turned off the TV and made his way to her.

They looked through the blurry glass of their front door, seeing all of their friends exiting their cars and walking over to them. "I've never gotten to swim before. Well not really. So, this'll be fun!" She yipped in a girly tone, hopping on her feet and clapping her hands rapidly.

He smiled down at her, gaining her attention.

"What?" She said, shifting her eyes around awkwardly and sounding confused.

_You're too cute._ He mouthed, wrapping his arms around her thin body and giving a light hug.

"Oh, stop it." She said, accepting the hug and leaning into him. "You're such a charmer." She said, giggling after.

Tali wore her purple robe over her swimwear, at least until they made it to the beach.

Shepard noticed the person at the head of the pack on the other side of the door get closer, so he opened the door to unveil himself and Tali to the guests.

"Shepard. And... Tali. Damn, I'm not going to get used to looking at your face." Joker said, smiling down at Tali and looking back up to Shepard. "Not that it's a bad face... trust me... it's a good face." He said, nodding his head forward and backward, raising his mouth to show some teeth in an odd half-smile.

"Um... thanks, Joker." She responded, looking past him to the others that had decided to come to the reunion.

Joker had on only one article of clothing, black and red swimming trunks, the same as Shepard had one. "Damn, Shepard. You raid my wardrobe when I wasn't looking?" He asked him, pointing down to the shorts Shepard wore.

Joker wasn't half the size Shepard was, he probably only had a forth of the muscle mass that Tali had. The bone disease clearly limited his ability to look in shape.

"So, where's this beach at?" Tali asked Joker, who turned around and hobbled back to the cars with the rest of their friends.

"Kasumi will show us. She had a friend of hers scourer the area for a good spot, and he found this place. Come on." Joker said, waving Shepard and Tali to their cars. "Not everyone could make it as you see." He said pointing to the others that had came with him.

Joker, Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, Miranda, Liara, and Kasumi were all that could make it.

"Jacob's tending to his baby along with his girlfriend. Zaeed grumbled something back to me over the phone about if he'd be getting paid for it. Samara said something about Justicar duties. Never heard anything back from Javik. Jack said she's too busy teaching biotics at Grissom Academy. James is probably juicing up on steroids. Ashley had military business to do, and said there's no way I'd see her in a swimsuit. And EDI is back on the Normandy, keeping things running for the Alliance." Joker ended and took a deep breath.

"That's all fine, they have their own things to do, we shouldn't interrupt them for something like this." Tali said, walking over to the car she shared with Shepard. "We'll follow you guys, just lead the way."

"Gotcha!" Joker yelled, crawling into his skycar with Kasumi in the drivers seat.

Two more cars came flying into their area, both of them landing in a flat area of Shepard and Tali's yard. "Who are they?" Tali asked, standing with a hand on the cars door, looking at the two different vehicles.

_I think I know who one is._ Shepard thought, smiling at the car a quarian girl came out of.

"You know her, Shepard?" Garrus said, walking past Shepard and looking at the girl who waved at him.

Shepard just smiled and nodded as a response.

"I don't get it." He said, looking at Shepard and then back to the girl who was approaching him.

Shepard gave him a wink once he looked back to him. Tali think she knew who it was and laughed at Garrus for it, along with Shepard.

"What's so funny?" He asked, scratching at his fringe with a hand.

"Hello." The girl said once she made her way to Garrus. "My name is... is... my name is, Lehe'Hoss. Shepard said... John Shepard said that you might want... to... go on a date... with me." She squeaked in a mousy voice, shy and awkward.

She wore a green swimsuit; She had baggy loose-fitting shorts that covered up to only a sixth of her legs, and a sports-bra looking top, that covered most of her small breasts. Though she was a little pudgy in places, but not fat, it was clear she gave it her all to impress him. She was short, being several inches shorter than Tali. She had short black hair that almost reached her shoulders, her bangs split down the middle with each side brushed behind her ears, and was tinted a green color that matched her cloth. She had chubby cheeks, thin lips, and a round head.

"I hope... I hope I look pretty enough for you." She said with her eyes avoiding his, and her head gaze finding the ground and staring at her tiny feet. "I tried to look my best. I wasn't even sure if you like quarians to begin with, I just thought... I thought-" She started to tear up, her lip quivering.

"You look beautiful." He said, smiling a weird turian grin at her. Shepard and Tali weren't sure if he was telling the truth, or if it was just meant to cheer her up.

"You mean it? You really think I look good... er... beautiful?" She asked, now with enough confidence to look him in the eyes, smiling up at him.

"I do." He said, taking a step closer to her. "I think I remember you... were you in the Citadel Wards when I busted those red sand dealers?" He asked, watching her nod as he spoke.

"That was me! I can't believe you remember!" She said, jumping into him and wrapping her short arms around his body. "Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." She said, taking several steps back from him and trying to look attractive again, smiling at him awkwardly.

"It's okay. Come on, we're going to the beach. Clearly Shepard told you." He said, touching a strap of her top that wrapped around her neck.

"What're you talking about, I wear this stuff all the time." She said, making him laugh, which made her giggle.

They walked back to Garrus' car, getting ready to head to the beach once Kasumi was ready.

"Who's the other car for then?" Tali asked, looking to the car a man in a uniform got out of.

He was old, tall, wearing Alliance colors, and had an Admiral's cap on. "Hackett?" Tali asked, looking in fright as the man approached Shepard and her. "He's not taking you away from me." Tali grumbled, reaching into the cars glove box and trying to find the gun she kept in there.

_Damn, Tali._ Shepard mouthed to himself, reaching his hand to her and holding her arm in place. _Calm down, you don't have to kill him_.

"Shepard." Hackett said, prompting Shepard to turn away from Tali to see him.

Shepard gave a nod to him, still in front of Tali to hide her and protect Hackett from her wrath.

"You ready yet?" He asked, his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

"You're not taking him away from me. You should just leave now, before things get bloody." Tali gave a primal growl, literally sounding like she'd kill him if he wanted to take Shepard on a mission.

"What?" Hackett asked sounding dumbfounded with her tone and answer. "It's just a simple ride to the beach, why would you kill me?" He asked, looking down at Tali who now stood in front of Shepard to guard him.

"Wait... You're not here to send him on a mission?" She asked, her stance relaxing now.

"No. Shepard is done with the Alliance. You, him, and your entire team have done enough for us."

"Then why are_ you_ here?" She asked, stepping aside to stand next to Shepard, keeping an arm wrapped around him to keep Hackett from literally pulling him away from her if he tried.

"I may be Alliance, but I also consider you my friends. I got an invitation from Joker." He said, unbuttoning his Alliance jacket and sliding it off, arm-by-arm and throwing it onto the ground. He pulled of the white shirt he had underneath, the last layer of clothing that covered his torso. Finally he unzipped his pants and let them fall to the ground, revealing swimming trunks that had little pictures of Alliance Dreadnaughts on it. "Shall we?" He asked, nodding to both of them and walking back to his car.

_Wow._ Shepard thought, a strange smile taking his lips as he watched the man undress and walk away to his car. _That was... unexpected. _He mouthed to no one in particular.

"Um..." Was Tali's only word as she watched the man peel his clothing off to reveal his wrinkled, white-haired, and old skin. He was exceptionally built for an old man, though he looked weaker due to his age and wrinkles. "I guess he's coming with us." Tali chuckled, watching the old man climb back into his vehicle and wait for the others to depart. "Come on, lets go." She said, letting her quiet giggles die down as she and Shepard entered the vehicle.

* * *

><p>They made it to the beach after a short fly to their destination, and following Kasumi.<p>

The beach wasn't like any Earth beach. It wasn't yellow, tan, or white with sand, instead it was a strange orange and gray with the pebbles of grains that made up the beach. A few others had found the destination as well, and set up towels and umbrellas to sit in peace. The water lightly rocked onto the sandy shores, a calm and peaceful rocking, which made it feel as if time was going slower in this part of Rannoch.

Everyone disembarked their vehicles, gathering around each other and walking to the shores to have fun any way they wanted. "I wanna go swim first." Tali said, pulling on Shepard's arm to drag him to the water.

_Go ahead. I'm getting a drink. _He said back to her, jerking his arm close to him, and pulling her with him into a quick hug. _Go have fun._ He commanded her, pointing and smiling out to the watery plains.

She sighed and agreed. "Fine, but come join me soon. I don't want to be swimming by myself."

"No need to worry about that, Mr's Shepard." Hackett said, strutting past them and onto the beach. "I was quite the swimmer in my days. I'll teach you. Come on!" He said, breaking into a sprint and lunging into the water.

Tali and Shepard smiled at him, then looked back to each other. "I'm serious. I want this to be a day for us, not a day so you and Garrus can drink yourselves into comas." She took a stern tone with him, no longer joking or playing.

He nodded his head. _Fine._

"Good." She slipped her robe off carelessly letting it fall to the rocky ground. Tali wore a purple swimsuit, the color that best matched her gray skin. It was nothing special, the cups of her top were cut large enough to keep her chest covered and contained, but made of a thin material so her nipples could be seen poking against the surface. A skirt-like piece was also attached to her top, covering the top of her breasts, and to the bottom of them, but a light enough purple to see the bra underneath. She wore a simple bottom piece to her suit, the cloth of the wear connected by a silver ring that rested on her hip, the same as the straps of her top that were connected together with two silver rings.

_Is it cold? _He asked her, referring to her hardened nipples.

"A little bit." She said, taking her hands and lifting her gray breasts to look at them. "Maybe I should have worn something a little less revealing." She thought aloud, wanting to go back and change.

_No. It's fine. I like it._ He reassured her, liking what she wore and taking every second to admire her in it.

"I bet you do." She said, taking his own hands in hers and putting them onto her breasts. "That feels better." She said smiling at him.

"Come on, you two." Joker groaned and rolled his eyes walking by Shepard and heading to a bar area where they served drinks. "You can fondle each other later. Lets go get drinks Shepard."

"See ya." Tali said to him before scampering off to the beach, tip-toeing her three toed feet along the hot sand. "I'll be waiting!" She called to him as he walked to join Joker at the bar.

_Garrus?_ Shepard asked Joker as he took a seat on the metal stool under the shaded tarp by the bar.

"He ditched us for his girlfriend." He groaned again, pointing behind himself to the beach where Garrus and Lehe'Hoss were at, simply sitting on the beach and talking with each other.

John smiled at the pair of people on the beach, and searched for Tali, who was looking at and talking to a turian man who sat on a towel leaning back and observing her. Shepard sneered at the man, thinking he was chatting up his wife.

"Well. Who do we have here?" An older human man asked, taking a seat next to Shepard at the bar.

Shepard turned and found Davos talking to him. _Hey, Davos._ Shepard greeted with a smile and held out his hand for a shake. Davos gave him the handshake and looked to Joker.

"Did Hackett invite the entirety of his Old-Folks-Golf-Club to the beach?" Joker asked, seeing another older man join Davos.

"No, he didn't. But it appears pre-school was let out early, or else, why would you be here?" The oldest of the gentlemen said, resting his cane against the table. Joker laughed at Matthos' joke that was directed to him. "Nice to see you, Shepard." The oldest man said, Matthos, Davos' father.

_And you, Matthos._ Shepard returned, giving the oldest man an easy handshake, feeling the frailness in his hands.

"I see you've all been acquainted." Kasumi said, taking a seat next to Joker. "Hello, Davos." Kasumi greeted him with a light smile, barely visible behind her hood's shadow.

"Come on, Kasumi. Why don't you ever wear anything different. Try something a little sexier for a change." Joker pleaded with her and waved the bartender over for a drink.

"If I wanted people to be gawking at me, then I wouldn't be a very good thief." She reasoned with him.

"Fair enough." He grumbled, taking a drink from the turian bartender and dropping a straw into it.

Shepard turned around in his seat, seeing Tali still talking with the turian man. _I need someone to make sure she's okay._ Shepard thought, turning back around and catching a pair of eyes staring at him.

Matthos smiled at Shepard and gave him a nod, as if he knew Shepard needed help with keeping Tali safe. Matthos got up from his seat, taking his cane, and trudged his way down the beach. "I'm going to check on the kids." He said to Davos, patting him on the back and making his way to Tali.

"See ya, dad." His son said, glancing at his dad then looking back to the bartender. He waved a drink over as well, and quickly sipped on it. "Yummy." He gave a relieved and thankful moan at the taste of the alcohol, smiling peacefully.

"How are we doing gentlemen?" A quarian man asked, walking to stand a safe distance from Shepard, Davos, Joker, and Kasumi. He had a guard, or posse of three other men behind him.

"Fine." Davos said, turning in his seat to look at the four quarian men.

The three in the back looked grungy, ugly, with rat-like faces. While the man in the front, who was the leader of whatever group he represented with the other men, was a handsome man, with short black spiked quarian hair that shined a yellow.

"What is it you want? We could use more drinking buddies." Joker suggested, raising his glass to the four newcomers.

"No thank you, I'm a bit finicky about drinking with abusive humans." He said, smiling and nodding sarcastically to them.

"Excuse me?" Kasumi asked, turning her head and raising a hand to her ear as if she didn't here them correctly. "I don't think I understood you." She grumbled, sneering at the man.

"I suppose, I just don't find it right that heroes get free passes to hit their wives." He said, looking to Shepard and giving him a hating look, full of disdain and a hint of murder in his eyes.

"The fuck did you just say?" Davos stood from his seat, looking into the tall quarian man's eyes, unblinking.

"Davos, don't." Kasumi warned, standing from her seat and walking closer to him, around the bar.

"Keep it clean gentlemen, I don't want to have to clean up dead bodies from my bar." The turian said calmly, as he washed cups with a cloth.

"What are you referring to?" Joker asked the man, who was still beating his eyes into Davos'. "No one here hit any of their wives."

"I disagree." The quarian said, looking past Davos and staring at Shepard again. "You all have seen that bruise on Tali'Zorah's face? You don't think that was from running into a wall do you?" Shepard knew what he was getting at, as did everyone else, though they didn't believe a word of it.

_That's enough out of you! _Shepard would have been yelling if he could yell, instead he shoved his finger at the quarian, and bolted up from his stool.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't here you." He said, mimicking Kasumi's action from earlier.

Joker jumped up from his chair, slamming his drink on the table and hobbled over to the men, with Kasumi behind him to help. "Say one more fucking thing!" Joker escalated his tone with them, backing up Davos in his blocking of the quarians.

"That was from some asshole of a quarian, kinda like you four. Shepard wouldn't do that." Davos reinforced his point, standing his ground with Joker and Kasumi.

The four quarian men backed away from the fight, not wanting to risk it just yet. "We will meet again." He said to Shepard in particular, smiling deviously at him. It could have been interpreted as a simple 'see you later' or something much more sinister, of course Shepard took it as a threat.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now get the hell out of here you punks." Davos commanded them, pointing a finger anywhere that wasn't the beach. Joker and Kasumi nodded at his demand, wanting the men to leave, but the leader had one more thing to say.

"Goodbye for now, Shepard." He said, tipping his head in a false respect to the man.

Shepard stayed standing, furious with the man who insinuated that Shepard would strike Tali.

"Oh..." He said, turning around once more as he was leaving. "And, tell Tali I said, hello. Or..." He raised his three fingered hand to eye level, flashing his fingers up and down at Shepard. "At least wave."

Shepard lunged at the man, quickly being blocked by Joker, Davos, and Kasumi, who pulled him back to his seat and away from the quarian man who left chuckling with his allies.

They restrained Shepard, Calming him down by placing a drink in front of him, and simply talking about Tali with him. "Don't listen to that fucker, Shepard." Davos demanded of him, looking back to where they used to be. "We know what happened. He's just an ass."

"Tali's lucky to have you, Shepard." Joker helped in calming him, patting his tense arm.

"He's right, which is odd to say because he's Joker, but Tali does love you Shepard. Don't listen to them. They're idiots who can't find themselves a girl as good as Tali." Kasumi helped, looking to the beach where Tali was making a sand castle and talking with Matthos. "It's hard to find any girl that even comes close to being as great as Tali."

"And you do deserve her, Shepard. Don't let them or anyone else tell you otherwise." Davos ended the string of compliments and emotional assistance, patting Shepard on the back.

Shepard normally didn't get mad at people who insulted or made fun of his muteness, but when accompanied with the insinuation that he would hit Tali, that is what drove him overboard.

Davos' wife made her way over to the bar, with a baby in her hands.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a daughter." Joker thought after that situation, he could lighten the mood with a little joke. Joker complimented the lady, talking to Davos, most likely knowing she wasn't his daughter.

"Ha-ha." Davos faked a laugh and looked up to his wife.

"What happened over here? It looked like you guys were going to fight someone." She asked in a questioning tone, looking at her husband for an answer.

"Just some asses who thought they'd be cute." He grumbled, standing up to give his wife a light hug.

"Don't curse, Davos. Our baby." She said, hiding his face from his daddy.

"Oh come on, he can't understand me." He whined, pulling the baby to face him. "Hey there, little guy." He took on a baby voice, that made everyone at the table feel uncomfortable, though it did make Shepard laugh.

She smiled at him, sliding her arm out of her blouse arm-hole, and beginning to breast-feed the baby.

"Oh, come on lady." Joker protested, looking at her and Davos. "Put that away, I'm trying to drink here." He joked, smiling after he said it.

"I'm just breast-feeding, calm down." She rolled her eyes at him.

"I know, I was saying to get the baby out of here, so I could get a better look." He said, winking not at her, but at Davos to make sure he knew he was joking. "Just kidding, big-guy." Joker said, holding his hands back in a fake surrender as Davos narrowed his eyes at him.

Marya, Davos' wife just rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Sorry, Davos. There's no filter for him. He's defective." Kasumi clarified, patting Joker on the head roughly.

"Hey! Come on, I was just joking. Now let me drink in peace."

Davos smiled at him, and turned to follow his wife to another part of the beach.

_I'm going to see how Tali's doing._ Shepard notified Joker, tapping him on the shoulder and waving goodbye.

* * *

><p>"I'll be waiting!" Tali yelled to Shepard and ran her way down the beach. <em>What do I want to do first? I could go swimming...<em> Her thoughts stopped as she saw Hackett in the ocean, working on his backstroke, and making odd grunting noises as he swam. _Or... I could wait for that, and instead play on the beach. Yup, I'll do that!_ She decided, skipping her way down the beach.

"Hey there gorgeous!" A turian man's voice called to her.

She spun around to see said turian man, leaning against his towel on the beach, and waving up to her. Tali looked left and right, making sure he was talking to her. "Me?" She asked, pointing a finger at her chest.

"Yes, you. You silly girl. I love what you're wearing. It's very sexy." He said, patting a seat next to him. "Come sit with us, we can all chat about how good you look. Because, you seriously look hot." He said, smiling like a fool after he talked.

"I appreciate it, but I'm married." She said, raising her eyebrows and widening her eyes as she waited for an apology.

"Pfft." He swung his hand at her from afar in a careless manner. "Why's that matter?"

"Excuse me." She said revolted with him, jerking her head back in disgust. "I'm not like the bosh'tet women you've slept with, if you ever actually have with that attitude. I actually have a shred of dignity for myself and loyalty to my husband." Tali glared at the man after she finished speaking, waiting, and soon demanding an apology for his rudness.

"What?" He said, squinting his turian beady-eyes at her.

"What's going on over her?" Matthos said, joining Tali and the man and standing at attention with his hands resting on his cane.

"I don't know, she's acting all hostile to me now and I don't even know why." The man defended his position, looking up to the old man who stood in between him and Tali.

Matthos looked to Tali for her side. "That's a lie, he was trying to get me to... sleep with him I guess, even though I said I was married." Matthos nodded to her, believing her over the turian.

Matthos kept his cane pointed into the ground, though his hands changed on it. He gripped the handle of the cane with his right hand, getting ready to pummel the turian man to death with it.

"What's going on, honey?" A human man said, walking up to the turian and sitting down next to him.

Matthos loosened his grip and stared oddly at the pair of men.

"I don't know. I just complimented this girl and now she's being extremely rude to me." He said, scooting closer on the towel to his human partner.

"Oh..." Tali said, nodding slowly and losing any contempt she had for the man. "I get it. I'm sorry, I'll leave you gentlemen be now." Tali gave them a nod and wave, walking further down to the sandier part of the beach with Matthos following.

Tali plopped down onto the sand, seeing Garrus and his new potential girlfriend Lehe talking with each other under an umbrella. Tali smiled at the pair, thinking them cute.

"Hey, Tali. You want to come swim with us?" Liara asked, standing side-by-side with Miranda.

Liara wore a one-piece swimming suit; It was white with blue on the sides, tight fitting to her body, with a large hole cut out of the material around her stomach and back, that revealed the bottoms of her blue breasts.

Miranda had white swimwear, both pieces made of the same type of scaled looking material her catsuit was made out of. The cups of her top were cut into triangles, and tied together in a bow with a thin black strap. He lower clothing was basically the same, the front and back pieces of white scaled cloth connected with a black tie.

"Actually I thought I'd just make a sand castle, I always wanted to make one." Tali said, smiling up at the two girls.

They nodded slowly and began to review her clothing. "You should have let us help you find something to where." Liara said, smiling honestly and pointing at her swimsuit.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" She asked, looking down at herself and examining the soft purple cloth-skirt that covered her breasts, blowing in the wind. "Shepard said he liked it."

"Well, sure he did, he's your husband. But, you should have gotten something that shows a little more, so he really can't take his eyes off of you." Miranda scolded her, nodding and pointing to her own clothing. "See, like mine. If this were any more revealing I'd be naked." She said, poking the bra that covered her large breasts.

"Or even something intricate like this." Liara said, running her hands along her form, tracing the opening of the front of her suit and touching the bottoms of her breasts. "Come with us sometime and we'll get you a better wardrobe."

Their advice might have been honest, but it still made Tali feel a little insecure about what she was wearing, thinking to herself if Shepard really did like it or not.

"Anyway, we'll see you later." Miranda said, walking fast and into the water, diving in with Liara.

Tali sighed, observing her body and wondering what ways Shepard would change it if he could.

"Don't listen to them, darling. They're just a bunch of bosh'tets." Matthos old kind voice greeted, slowly taking a seat next to her. She smiled at his use of the quarian insult. "I think you look great." He said, smiling. "Of course that probably doesn't mean much coming from an old man." He chuckled, making her laugh as well. "Shepard thinks you look great, I know it." He reassured her, setting his cane on the sandy ground.

"You think so? They said that-"

"Please." He interrupted her, rolling his head and eyes at the women who tried to teach Tali how to dress. "They don't know the first thing about how to dress. They both had camel-toes." He said, smiling wide and laughing again.

Tali squinted her eyes at him. "Camel-toes?"

"It's when your clothing... down there." He pointed to hers. "Get's all bunched up, and into your... it makes it look like a camel's toe."

"Oh..." She said, bursting out into laughter at the women. "Did they really? That's hilarious!" Tali continued her laugh, only making the old man's smile widen.

"They did. It was quite distracting, and not attractive of them." He laughed again, looking out to the ocean where the girls were being attacked by splashes sent from Hackett's arms. "He's the face of the Alliance military?" Matthos asked, pointing to Hackett as he attacked the girls.

Tali nodded to him.

"I'm afraid for our race." Tali laughed again.

"Hey!" Tali exclaimed to the man, patting the sand in between her and him. "You wanna help me make a castle?" She pepped up, no longer thinking on whether Shepard liked her clothing anymore.

"Ah..." He looked to a digital watch on his wrist.

"Oh... It's okay, I understand." She nodded slowly and gave a weary smile, looking down to the spot she'd build her castle.

"Bah... I can spare a few minutes. How could I say no to you?" He asked, his white mustache raising high as he smiled

"Really? Great!" She started pulling sand into a mound, and tried to shape a base from it. Matthos helped her, his old hands trembled as he reached them out to help form the castle with her. _This is what I wish my father would have done with me. Even if it wasn't castles, I wish he would have spent some time with me._ Tali thought, a single tear appearing in her eye that she quickly brushed away.

They talked of meaningless random things, such as how the beach looked, and what time they thought they'd leave the beach. Tali enjoyed every word of her talk with the man.

After a fair amount of time passed, she made what looked like in her head, Zorah Castle, from her dream. "It's perfect!" Tali yelled, shooting her hands into the air in delight. "It just needs a couple towers.

"I think I'll leave you now." Matthos said, looking to the higher part of the beach.

"Aw... why?" She knew why once she saw Shepard walking up to her from the beach.

"I'll talk to you later, Mr's Shepard." He said, giving a final nod to her, and leaving her to be alone with Shepard.

Matthos gave the same nod to Shepard as he passed him, walking up the beach to join his son and daughter-in-law.

"Hey. I made a castle!" Tali yelled giddily, pointing down to the orange sanded castle. "You like it?"

He smiled at it, and took the place Matthos had earlier occupied. _It's great._

"Thanks. And, what about my swimming suit? You do really like it, don't you?" She asked, wanting to make sure. "Be truthful."

He squinted at her oddly, not understanding why she didn't believe him the first time. _Of course._

"Thanks." She said again, this time blushing a darker gray, almost purple. "I just need a few more towers and it'll be perfect."

Shepard piled up some sand, packing it into a ovular shape, and stuck it on a corner of the castle. _Swim now?_ Shepard asked, content with the well-being of the castle.

Tali nodded once. "Lets." She got up, dusting her chest of stray sand grains. Shepard took the liberty to help her, dusting off the bottom of her swimsuit with his hand, brushing it against her butt. "Hey!" She squealed, turning around to scold him.

He smiled down at her, waiting for her to take some type of action.

She reached her hand around his backside, spanking his butt with a hand. He hopped in confusion, stunned at what she did. "You touch my butt. I can't touch yours?" She asked, shaking her head at him in a taunting way. "Come on, lets swim!" She yelled, running into the ocean, and diving in with Shepard fast behind her.

* * *

><p>After ten minutes of random swimming, and aimless splashing, they decided to form an organized game now.<p>

"You've never played before?" Hackett asked the girls in the water as they stared in confusion at him.

Lehe, Liara, Miranda, and Tali all looked confused with his proposal of a game.

Hackett looked to the male swimmers. Garrus, and Shepard. "How about you guys?" They both shook their heads. "Pah... It's easy, the guys pick a girl to put on their shoulders, and the girls swat mercilessly at each other until one of them falls. Easy." He said, looking at the six others who share the water with him.

"Sounds fun." Tali said in a maniacs tone, a pointed smile on her face as she imagined beating Liara and Miranda senselessly into the water. "I'll take Shepard!" Tali yelled out, hoping out of the water and into Shepard's arms. "I'm on top this time, honey." She said, making her husband blush. She crawled onto his shoulders, steadied herself, and waited for the game to begin.

"I guess I'll take-" Liara said, slowly parting her way to Garrus.

"I got Garrus!" Lehe squealed, grabbing her man tight with her arms locked around him.

"Yes, you do." Garrus said chuckling. He let her crawl onto his back and get ready for the game. _I really hope he likes her. I don't think I could forgive him if he was just toying with her this entire time. _Tali thought, watching the laughing couple get ready.

Miranda and Liara slowly turned their heads to Hackett. "Oh, come on. I'm not that bad. I was quite the stud in my earlier years." He boasted, his eyes touching the top of their lids as he reminisced of old times.

"Fine. I'll take Hackett." Miranda said, making her way over to him slowly in the water.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He yelled out, grabbing her and literally spinning her around to his back, quickly mounting him.

"Oh!" She yelled with a laugh afterward. "You're strong." She massaged his shoulders with her hands, smiling down at him.

"Okay, now who gets Liara?" Hackett asked, looking to the beach for any male participants who wanted to join. "Grunt!" Hackett yelled out to the krogan.

Grunt's head snapped to the party in the water, looking up from a plate of food he had his face stuffed in near the bar.

"Wanna play a game!" Hackett yelled out, beckoning him with a hand.

"Sure!" Grunt roared, flipping the table he at on with a hand, and running for the shore.

"Goddess..." Liara mumbled, shaking in fright as Grunt closed in on her.

"Hey." Grunt greeted her, looking at the other three pairs of people, and picking up Liara to imitate them.

He swung her around to the hump of his neck, and set her there. She spun her head around slowly in a daze.

"Alright! Lets do this!" Hackett yelled, officially starting the game

"Go for Miranda." Tali whispered down to John, who complied and made his way for Hackett and Miranda.

Garrus and Lehe on the other hand went for Grunt and Liara, which was easily ended when Grunt growled at Garrus, making him stumble in fright and fall under the water with his girl. "He-he-he. I'm such a badass." Grunt talked to himself, watching the two people they defeated surface and leave the beach as they had lost.

Meanwhile, Tali was flailing her arms at Miranda, giving her a never ending barrage of her slaps. "Come on, Hackett! Help me out, hit Shepard!" Miranda commanded her partner, blocking Tali's hits with her forearms.

"I can't when I got my arms holding you legs, woman! Now win already!" He yelled, struggling to keep her up as she rocked on him, shaking him slightly.

"Just do it!" She yelled, not understanding how gravity works apparently.

Hackett let go of her legs to try and hit Shepard, and just as he said, she fell off of him. "Gah! See what I said!" He yelled at her when she surfaced, spitting up water.

"He-he. Oh, Shepard." Grunt called, standing there with Liara on him looking smug as if she'd just won.

"We can take em." Tali said in a positive tone, tapping her hands against Shepard's shoulders.

_I don't think we can._ Shepard mumbled, mostly out of her view, staring in fright at Grunt's evil smile and reptilian eyes.

"No! I'm being attacked!" Wrex yelled from the beach, being pounced on by the two youngest of Davos' sons and their army of kid friends.

"Huh? I'll save you Clan Leader!" Grunt roared, chucking Liara from his back and into the water as he ran to the beach.

"We win!" Tali cheered, watching Miranda and Liara both leave the beach in disappointment. "Poor, Kitty." Tali pouted, using her dream-name for Wrex, watching him be attacked by the children.

They stated in the water as they were, with Tali on his shoulders. They watched Wrex and Grunt be toppled by dozens of kids, being kicked and covered in sand by the children. They didn't do anything to harm the little ones though, out of the respect and great care they place in children, because of their races own inability to have many children, the inability that was now gone, but still they kept their tradition in tact. Tali and Shepard laughed and smiled at the sight of their friends continuing their play on the beach.

* * *

><p>After another hour, they were all finally ready to leave.<p>

Tali took one last look at the sea before leaving. The dark-blue sea met with the dark-blue sky perfectly, making it look like one single entity. Tali smiled at it and turned to head up the beach.

Most had their swimwear covered with a robe or towel, walking back to their respective sky cars.

"Did you have fun?" Tali asked her husband as they ascended the beach.

He nodded, taking another look at the beautiful beach.

"Hey there, sailor! You're looking _good._" The gay turian man commented, nodding with his boyfriend next to him, admiring Shepard's body.

Shepard looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do. Tali laughed at him, slapping her hand against his arm once. "So, you're days been great." She laughed again, pleased with her husbands smile he gave her, and pleased with the time she had at the beach. "Those kids were cute, huh?" She asked him, wanting another specific answer.

He shrugged. _Kids are a hassle, thank God we can't have any._ He mouthed, nudging her with his elbow and giving a smile at his joke. _Makes sex a lot easier. Don't gotta spend money on condoms._ He noted, pursing his lips and nodding at the convenience.

Tali held back a sigh, knowing there was nothing else she could do or say to get him to change his mind. _I love John, but I just wish he wanted kids. Why can't he see that I want kids? _"Hmm... I'm glad you had a good day." She said in a quiet tone.

_Just._ He began, looking down at her, her smile had long since faded with his news of never wanting kids. _Some jackasses pissed me off earlier, that's the only thing wrong with today though._ He cooled down, seemingly really upset with whoever it was that made him that mad, but smiled at the end when he looked to her.

"Hmm... at least it's better now." She said, stopping when Matthos walked up to join them in their stroll.

_I'll go start the car up._ Shepard said to Matthos, giving him a smile and nod that he returned, letting him and Tali talk.

"You feeling better now? Not letting those bosh'tets upset you?" He comforted her.

She had to slow her pace as she walked with him, his cane and wound from when he was stabbed really slowed him down. "Yeah, I just ignore them now. What they say doesn't matter."

"Good." He said, stopping at the top of the beach with her. Her eyes were more tired now, an effect of staying up so late recently, from checking adoption clinics around Rannoch. "Yet I still sense something's wrong?" He basically asked her to elaborate.

"Well." She said, quickly glancing around for the others, though they were all at their cars now. "I... I was thinking of adopting a child." She whispered to him, making sure Shepard wasn't near. "But-"

"You want the child to be yours?" He asked, which wasn't really the explanation she was going to give, but that caught her interest. She was going to say, but Shepard doesn't want any.

She pepped up at that, realizing he was offering something no one had every thought of doing before. "You mean so Shepard and I can have an actual child together?" She said, a smile on her face again

He nodded. "If adoption clinics aren't for you, then stop by Davos' house, preferably when fewer kids are there. Just make sure it's okay with Shepard. Wouldn't want him worrying about you. Not that it's dangerous, but it should be taken seriously, and with extreme caution. Just have him put some stuff in a cup, and bring it and your body to me, I'll do the rest." He said with a smile.

"His stuff?" She asked.

"Semen." He said, laughing afterward.

"Oh... I'm so dumb." She rolled her eyes at her stupidity, and smiled once more to the man. "Okay then, I'll see." She ended, walking away from the man and to Shepard and their car, to drive back home. _I'll finally get to fulfill my dreams, and it can actually be Shepard's child, this is the best day ever!_

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong> Hopefully you liked it. And now it should be obvious what Tali wants. I'll try to keep the fluff on high, and the drama low, but we'll get a little drama none-the-less.

Bye!


	14. The Procedure

**Note: **Sorry this one was one day late, I had trouble writing it, hopefully you like it though.

* * *

><p>After their most recent bout of love-making, Tali and Shepard were laying still and at peace in their bed.<p>

Shepard's hands were stroking her body, one along her arm, and the other petting her hair. His mind was on her entirely, while hers was focused on something else.

Tali had been trying to work up the courage to ask Shepard for children, but every time she tried he gave an insulting joke about kids, or mocked how they can never have any. Of course, if what Matthos said was serious, then they could have kids, but Shepard didn't know that.

_Maybe he just doesn't want kids because he doesn't think we can have any._ Tali thought, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. _Maybe if I tell him what Matthos said, then he'd change his mind. Or, he'd get mad at me, and we'd have a long strangely quiet discussion about having children._

Any time Tali thought about kids it put an ache in her stomach, turning her mood sour when she thought about all of the happy couples who have kids. If she ever did get a child through artificial insemination, it would replace her old ache for a new one. Though the new ache Tali would welcome, because it would result in her child—not some others child that was left at the orphanage—this child would be her's by blood, her's and Shepard's by blood

_Shepard will appreciate that, won't he? He loves me, he wouldn't want to see me unhappy._ _Whatever I choose to do, I need to get this stuff fast, before it dies out._ She thought, referring to Shepard's sperm, which was for the most part still warm and inside of her, some still around her area.

"You were quieter than usual." Tali said to him, lifting her gaze to his head which was just above her's as she rested on his chest.

He rolled his eyes and smiled. _Yeah, you made up for my silence though. You were screaming like a banshee._ He mouthed to her, receiving a shocked look from his lover.

"Shut up!" She yelled, slapping him with a hand on his chest. "You bosh'tet."

_Bosh'tet, huh ?_ He asked, squinting at her. _I'll show you what a bosh'tet is._ He mouthed to her, moving both of his hands from her hair and arm, shoving them onto her stomach and brushing them around on her toned belly.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" She giggled out, trying to push his arms away from her. "It tickles! Stop!" She continued her fit of giggles, cries, and pleas for an end. "My tummy's ticklish! Stop it!" With a smile froze on her face, she laughed without end.

Shepard smiled and continued his merciless attack on her stomach with his finger tips.

"I said, stop it!" She yelled once more, still playful, but pushing him harder now.

He flopped off the bed, taking the sheets to the bed and several pillows with him. Crashing into the ground with a thud, Tali rolled over to see him.

"You okay?"

He shook his head, his hands in between his legs for some reason, facing the floor.

"What's wrong? I didn't mean to." She spat out quickly, going to cry soon if she actually hurt him.

He held up a hand to silence her before she got anymore hysterical. He stood up slowly, holding his manhood with both hands, hiding it from her. _I landed on my dick._ His face scrunched up with pain, barely being able to mouth the words to her.

"Oh..." Tali said, laying across the bed with her hands holding up her face. She swung her gray legs back and forth unknowingly, and staring at his hands. "Maybe I could give it a kiss..." She suggested, looking up to him and smiling. "Take the pain away."

He smiled at that, but it faded quickly. He shook his head, walking away to the bathroom. He turned around before closing the door. _I just remembered, Joker and the guys want me to spend some time with them while their still on Rannoch. So, I'll be out for a few hours. _He mouthed to her, nodding and closing the door to tend to his penis in whatever way he could.

_I hope I didn't hurt him too bad._ Tali thought, looking at the closed door, a light shining under it from the bathroom. _Oh, yeah!_ She flipped her body to face her drawer, sliding it open and pulling out an empty vial. _I hope this works. It makes me feel so skeevy though, like an actual rat._

She ignored her inner thoughts, lifting the specially made vial to her eyes, feeling it's cold outside between the fingers she pinched it with. _No going back now._ She thought, putting her hands under the covers, and sticking her fingers inside the lips of her vagina.

Fluttering her eyes at the quick flashes of pleasure she felt, she got carried away with her expedition of her lower region, lightly moaning and sticking her finger deeper into herself. "Mmm." She let another moan escape her lips, rotating her hips and stretching her legs. Arching her back on the bed, she was about to finish herself until she realized why she was even down there in the first place. She pulled out reluctantly with a sigh, lifting her fingers to her eyes. _Come on, Tali, get a hold of yourself.__  
><em>

With remnants of Shepard's juices on her fingers, she wiped it into the freezing test vial, plugging a clear cap on top of it quickly. _There. Now I just have to get it to Matthos. But, he's probably surrounded by those kids of Davos'. I guess it couldn't hurt to try._ She thought, crawling out of bed.

After getting dressed in a pair of white quarian specific pants, a white t-shirt, and a thin black zip-up jacket, Tali was prepared to head for Matthos and his lab. "I'll be out for a while, Shepard! See you soon!" Tali yelled through the sound of a shower in the bathroom.

She assumed he heard, nodding to the door he was behind, she left the house and made for the Seaworth estate in her car.

* * *

><p>She could see the tip of a house in the distance. As her view cleared up, she slowed her sky car, examining the house before her.<p>

_This is where they live?_ She asked herself, looking at the tall and old house. _I wonder if Kasumi pays them enough. After all, she said Davos is in her employ. Maybe they're just really loose with their money._ She noted, hovering the car in an empty driveway. _Yup. No one's here it seems._

The car touched down, and she was clear to exit.

Opening the door, pulling it up she stepped out, straightening her clothes before walking to the house. _Hopefully it all works out._ She started getting nervous, fiddling with the cold vial in her hands. _What if Shepard thinks I cheated! I doubt he'd believe this child is actually his hybrid. What was I thinking! Unless I could get Matthos to help explain. Yeah, that'd work. Stop being so nervous, Tali._

She swallowed hard as she was a foot from the door, lifting her knuckles and rasping them on the door.

Hearing a tapping sound come closer to the door she got more anxious. _Come on! Come on!_

The door creaked open, revealing a kind old man with a shining black cane he leaned against. "Tali'Zorah. It's good to see you." He said smiling kindly with his old and sad eyes that made him seem so pure and innocent. This was what Tali wanted Shepard to be like in his later years: Always smiling, confident, happy, content, and peaceful. This man was what Tali wanted to be like when she was an elder. "I suspect you're here for the procedure?" He asked, hobbling out of the way of the door for her to enter.

"Ah... Yes!" She yipped out quickly. "Shepard didn't want to come along, he had business to attend to." She lied, smiling and nodding. _Hopefully my little experience as an actress has paid off. If he finds out I'm lying now, and tells Shepard on me, I don't think Shepard would be so easy to trust me anymore._

"Okay, sounds fine to me. If you want you can head upstairs to my laboratory." He pointing a shaking and feeble finger up the stairs to an open door. "Just keep quiet. Allen is asleep, and he can be a light-sleeper."

"Where is the rest of the family?" She asked, taking his offer and leading up the stairs to his work room.

"Davos is out with your husband's friends, they're going to meet him soon. I assumed that was the business you were referring to?" He asked, slowly following her up the stairs, a hand on his cane and the other on the railing.

"Yes! It was." She blurted out before causing suspicion, though it may have drew more that she yelled. "So, it's just us?"

"Yes, Marya and the kids are at the museum for a trip, except Allen stayed behind because he was feeling ill. Just you, me, and Allen." With Tali at the top of the stairs now, Matthos was only halfway up, looking up at her with a quick smile he looked back down to continue his baby-steps.

"Are you... okay?" She asked, lending him a hand.

"That quarian got me good." He laughed. "Right in the gut. Though it was a small price to keep an innocent woman from death." He quickly hovered a hand over his stomach and then reached for Tali's hand. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." He was beside her now, looking at her sadly.

"I know exactly how much it means. Most women don't want kids—For whatever reason—they don't have the strength you do. Most would rather not go through the pain of childbirth when they could just as easily go without children, or adopt. You're using science to put children in your womb... not take them out. You have more courage than any woman I know." He smiled down at her. She blushed at his kind words, a blush a daughter would get when her father gave her away on her wedding day, with a 'you look beautiful' accompanied with it—though Tali never got that from her father, not even when he was living.

"Thanks..." _Dad. _She responded and thought, a faint smile on her lips.

"It takes a lot to go behind your significant others back to get what you both want, but only one knows it." The last part caught her undivided attention.

_He knows... He knows! I'm in so much trouble now! _Her eyes found the floor quickly, looking down in shame. "I'm sorry. I-I-I-I..."

"You're doing the right thing." He tapped the floor lightly with his cane, bringing her attention back to his face. "He'll love you all the same, and you'll both love this child just as much." She nodded at his words.

"He will." She responded positively with a smile again.

"And, if he doesn't, you send him to me and I'll..." He lifted his cane and whacked it against the railing of the stairs. "Straighten him out." They both shared a laugh, and proceeded into his room.

"Wow. Fancy." She noted, seeing a single patient's bed to her left, and a kitchen like area with test tubes and other glassware containers and lab supplies.

"Now. The sperm?" He asked with a hand out to her.

"Oh... uh... yeah, here." She reached into her pants pocket where she recently stuffed the thing, handing it to his shaking hand.

"Now. You need to understand. Modesty doesn't exist in these confines." He said, waddling over to a stool by a microscope and other glass tubes.

"Okay. What's that mean?" She asked, walking over to the bed and sitting down.

"It means I'll need you to disrobe." He said, not paying attention to her and instead meddling with the vial of sperm.

"What!" She shreiked out in outrage.

"Be quiet." He hushed, whipping around in his chair and pushing an old wrinkled finger against his lips.

"Sorry. But, I can't do that." She protested, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm not interested in your body, Mrs. Shepard. Even if I was, it'd take several pills and a lot of booze until anything started happening down there." He pointed to his crotch.

She giggled at his honesty, and he returned a laugh. "Okay, but can I put a robe on?"

He pointed to a clothes rack, with a patients robe on it. "I won't look, though I'll have to poke around your lady parts to get this stuff in eventually."

"So, that's it, just test on it and put it inside me and we're done?" She asked, pulling her jacket and shirt off and unclasping her bra.

"You'll also have to take some weekly supplements to keep the baby alive. Since it will feed on both dextro and levo foods, also I'll have to inject something in you, so the breast milk is safe for him or her to drink. I could bore you with the details, but just know it's safe."

"Okay." She unbuttoned her pants, tugging them off and neatly folding them with the rest of her clothing.

"And, for the sex?" He asked her, waiting until she was at least covered in the robe before turning to look. She slipped on the robe, tying the back laces quickly and clearing her throat as a sign to look.

He turned to her, waiting for an answer. "I... uh... surprise me."

"Are you sure? You don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl?" He asked, standing from his stool with shaky legs, quickly snatching his cane to support himself.

"Part of the fun is not knowing? Right?" She asked, laying down on the white bed, facing the bright white ceiling. She saw two strings with suction cups next to her, knowing it was for the heart monitor she helped herself and stuck them onto her chest, under the robe.

"I suppose." He said, making it to her side. "Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit." He said, raising a needle in his hands and putting the point on a vein of her wrist.

She let him do his work, sliding the needle into her skin, injecting a stream of clear liquid into her bloodstream. "I'm a little nervous." She noted, her breaths increasing to a rapid pace.

"I can see." He said, looking at a heart monitor that started to speed up slowly. "Just breathe, honey." He patted her hand with his, seeing her heart rate steady, but was still high. "Or, I could put you under for a bit, if that would calm you?" He asked, meaning to knock her out for the duration of the procedure.

"I think that would help. It wouldn't hurt the baby?" She made sure with a stern tone, already defensive of her unborn child.

He laughed once and held a smile. "No, he or she will be just fine." He held her hand in his, patting it and setting it back to the bedside. "Goodnight, don't let the bed bugs bite." He noted, grabbing a face mask with a tube attached to it, bringing it closer to her face.

"Wait... bugs?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him, and bending her neck up to see her body and check for bugs.

"It's just an expression, honey." He said with a laugh following.

"Oh... I'm so stupid." She said, placing her head back down on the pillow.

"No." He said, placing the mask over her face and twisted a nozzle to pump nitrous oxide into her system—a refined amount, specially made to actually only knock you out, and not just to daze you and turn you loopy. "You're the smartest person I know." He nodded to her and she returned it, taking in the gas, her heart rate slowed to a normal pace and she was out of it.

_One more thing to do._ Matthos thought, sliding on a glove before going to work.

He reached to a small bowl, inside was a mixture of Shepard's sperm, and other liquids Matthos had concocted it with to make it work for levo or dextro. He grabbed for a thin but long rod, sticking it into the mixture, coating the end of it thoroughly.

"Should be enough." Matthos mumbled, walking to the end of the bed, lifting Tali's robes to reveal her opening. With her legs spread far enough to allow him access, he pulled the lips apart with two fingers of a gloved hand, and inserted the rod carefully and making sure he didn't hurt her.

After putting it in the appropriate length, he pulled it out, wiping the excess fluid with a cloth.

He discarded the rod and cloth into a sink, walking around to the side of the bed, and covering her with the robe again. "One more step." He said with a smile. He peeled the rubber gloves off and threw them into the trash can before proceeding.

He turned to a silver tray on a table, taking a needle filled with more fluid. He turned back around to her, putting the tip of the needle in the same place as last time, pushing it in slowly he pushed on the end of the capsule, forcing the liquid into her veins again.

He pulled it back out, and set the needle on a tray. "Perfect." He said smiling at his work. "You deserve it." He said to her unconscious body, brushing strands of hair from her face to behind her ears with his hand. _It'll be a while until she wakes and until the fluids take full effect._ He thought, turning from the bed and slowly making his way for the stool again, prepared to wait for her awakening.

The heart rate monitor started increasing in speed, turning erratic fast.

Matthos spun around as quickly as an old man can spin, squinting at the monitor, the white lines bouncing up and down rapidly and looking like a mountain now. "No." He whispered, hobbling back to the monitor, seeing the rate at 130 beats per minute. "No, no, no, no, no, no." He said slowly, looking down to her seemingly peaceful body, that didn't move. She was smiling, her hands resting at her sides, though she was hardly breathing.

The beats per minute started to increase by a beat every few seconds.

He looked back down to her, wondering what caused it. _It's all my fault, I've killed her, it's all my fault._ Was the only string of thoughts that ran through his head.

He turned to a drawer, filled with various drugs of different types.

_Morphine..._

_No..._

_Aspirin..._

_No..._

_Where's all of my Antiarrhythmic medication!_ He yelled in his mind, feeling a need for the medication himself as his heart rate increased.

He trudged back to the stool he sat at before, whipping it out of the way and opening a drawer that used to be blocked by it.

He saw several packages of medicine, labeled: Beta Blockers; Anti-Anxiety Medication; Calcium Channel Blockers. _Perfect! _He cheered in his mind.

The heart rate monitor stopped it's random beats, and gave off the sound of a flat-line, one slow steady sound that ate at Matthos heart. _No... I was so close!_ He didn't let it stop him.

He turned around quickly, with several packages of medicine in his hands, and with one misstep he was ruined.

The cluttered amount of medicine in his hands made him lose grip of his cane, making it slip from his grasp and join the ground, along with Matthos himself.

His stomach cramps were back at the worst of moments.

He grasped at his gut, clenching it and unable to move from the spot.

The sweat of salty water dripped from his brow to his eyes, covering the rest of his face and body and starting to cloud his vision. His arms started twitching, and his heart felt like it was punched or stabbed secretly as a voodoo doll with a pin. He was having a heart attack.

Matthos couldn't move or think properly anymore, with some of his last thoughts being. _It's all my fault. Let it be me! Let her live! Let me die! Let it be me! Let it be me! I've never asked you for anything in my life, so I'm asking now, keep her alive. Keep her alive, and take me instead! _He thought to God, starting to lose consciousness. Matthos and the Seaworth's were very religions, he would read the bible to his son every night for hours when he was a kid, trying to break Davos of his dyslexia, but it didn't work in the end. Matthos prayed Davos would overcome the affliction, but he never did, and still reads poorly to this day. Matthos hoped this prayer would prove more useful than his last.

He continued twitching on the floor, drool coming from the corner of his mouth, until he finally blacked out and stopped moving completely. With a loud flat-line coming from Tali, and the rest of the room dead silent, it was over, they were both dying slowly.


	15. Our Father

**Note:** Hopefully you like it, tell me what you think if you think anything about it, good or bad, if not, keep on reading silently, I appreciate you all the same.

* * *

><p>With Matthos face down one the floor, drooling a pool of spit under his lips in his unconscious state, and Tali's heart stopped while the monitor gave a steady, loud, ear-piercing hum, all seemed lost for the pair of people.<p>

Matthos was the only one who ever tended to his work station, the one who knew where every single thing was, and how to operate each piece of machinery.

Tali was unresponsive and laying in the bed as peaceful as a flower, but she was withering fast.

They were the only adult occupants in the house, Davos was with Shepard having some type of party. Marya, Davos wife, was with the kids on a quick relaxing trip.

No one would know what happened here. Shepard would be told by a news team somewhere that his wife passed away in a hospital bed. Davos would be told his father fell over and collapsed in the house, with no one near to comfort him.

All seemed lost for Tali and Matthos.

In the midst of the steady beep given off by the monitor, a wiggling metal sound was heard, coming from the door to the room.

The door's loose handle was bobbing up and down, twisting and turning slowly as an unknown person tried to make their way in.

Finally, after enough fiddling, and jiggling of the handle, the door creaked open.

When it slowly swung to give view to the hall, no man was there, nor any woman.

The little boy Allen, standing at only a few inches more than three feet, and holding his teddy bear loosely in his palm. He rubbed away his tired feeling in his eyes with a palm, and gave a quiet yawn.

"Grandpa..." He whined, waddling his little legs into the room and looking down at his grandfather. "I told you I wanted to sleep... now wake up and help me. I need to turn off your sound-maker." He waited on his grandfather's ascension, but he didn't move, laying still on the floor.

Allen looked up from Matthos to Tali, laying on the bed with her hands at her side.

"Oh, it's you. How you doin' Mrs. Alien Lady?" He asked her, again waiting for her to respond. "No... you don't wanna talk to me? Okay then."

He looked back down to Matthos and gave his leg a kick with his foot.

"Wake up, grandpa. I need to go to sleep. I'm having tea with Tim tomorrow, and he really doesn't like it when I say no." Allen gave him another kick as he described his tea date with his imaginary friend, Tim. "Fine. I'll turn it off myself, you big, lazy, bear." He stepped over his unconscious grandfather, waddling over to Tali's bedside, and looking up at the heart monitor which continued a steady hum.

He lifted his teddy bear, and plopped it down beside Tali.

"Hold that for me, Mrs. Alien Woman."

He turned his attention back to the machine, turning his head at it and squinting his eyes.

"You're loud." He said to the machine as he examined it. "Maybe this'll shut you off." He poked his finger at a button on it. A red light next to another button glared at him. "Well... it did something... just don't know what." He looked to his left, seeing a syringe filled with a liquid hover over Tali's arm from a metal rod it was connected to. "Atropine... hmm..." He read the label on the needle as it injected itself into Tali. "Ew... That looks nasty." He looked away in revolt, staring at the machine which changed it's sound. Now giving off a near-silent beat about 20 seconds in between each other. "Still too loud."

He stood on his toes to read the words under the red light and button.

"De... De... Defib... Defibrillator... Oh! That's fancy talk for 'mute.'" He exclaimed and pushed his finger against the button.

Once he clicked it, Tali's body jolted, her torso lifting off the bed several centimeters before falling back down. The little strings and suction cups attached to her body were sending the volts of electricity into her body, and making contact with her heart.

"Oh... that was weird." Allen noted, looking over to Tali, as her body calmed again on the bed. "That was cool, lets do it again!" He yelled, pushing the button again.

A second time her body jumped involuntarily, shaking the bed slightly along with her body.

"Awesome. Just wish this thing would turn off already." He said, pressing the button once more.

For a third time, her chest shook a little and then rested.

The heart rate monitor returned to it's regular and quiet sound, alternating the beats it made when Tali first hooked herself up to the machine. "Better." He said with a smile.

Tali lifted her body up from the bed, coughing violently into her hands that she rose to cover her face and mouth. She took in a deep breath, and continued her coughing.

"Mrs. Alien Lady! You're awake! Wanna play a game?" He asked her, hopping onto the bed beside her and his teddy.

She looked down at him in surprise, still coughing into her hands. "Wha-what?" She asked in between coughs.

"I said you wanna play a game? Grandpa is sleeping, he can't play with us." Allen looked to the edge of the bed, where Matthos was laying alone.

"Oh no." Tali whispered, as she looked over the bed to the man. "Allen, we're going to play a game, okay." Tali said, looking down to the giddy kid who tossed the teddy bear in his hands as he looked at her.

"Okay... what game?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Ah... We're going to play... who can find the right medicine." She said, slowly exiting the bed with a pain in her side, and a burning feeling in her chest.

"That doesn't sound very fun." He grumbled, leaving the teddy bear on the bed as he walked over to Matthos with her.

_Oh, keelah! What's the name of that medicine John talked about before? _She thought in a panicked feeling, her eyes darting around the room for a box of medicine to treat Matthos' injury. "I assume he had a heart attack." She whispered as she looked down to his still body. "I know!" She exclaimed, looking over to Allen who waited for his orders. "Look for aspirin!"

"Got it! I'm going to beat you!" He yelled in a laugh, running around the room and whipping open drawers and cabinets to find the thing.

Tali did the same, in her patient's gown, she rushed around the room, popping open boxes as she searched for the pills. _Keelah! Where the hell are they!_

She stumbled over a fallen stole, and slid open another drawer.

_Where is it! I'm not going to lose him on my account. Just when I was starting to like him, it can't end like this. He was the father I always wanted, I won't lose him. I don't care how old he is, even if he can spend another hour with me, I'd gladly give a day out of my life for it. _Her eyes were beginning to be hard to see out of, when the bottom half of them were now covered in a teary water. Her lips were shaking and she lost it, dropping to the floor, she curled up and started to cry, pulling her knees close to comfort herself.

"Why are you crying Mrs. Shepard?" Allen asked, using her actual name now.

Tali didn't answer him, instead she buried her face into her legs, her hands on top of her head as she cried uncontrollably into herself, slowly rocking back and forth on the floor.

"Is it because I won?" He asked, making her crying soften.

"What?" She asked slowly, looking up at him through her teary eyes, she saw he had a case in his hands.

"I found the aspirin first, you lose." He said in confidence, one hand on his hip and the other holding out the medicine to her. "You owe me a million-billion-gazillion monies now."

She hopped up from the floor, snatching the medicine from his hands, she slid onto her knees beside Matthos body. "I found them." She said to his unconscious body. "You'll be okay." She said with a smile, more tears falling down her cheeks as she turned his body over, and opened the cap to the medicine, ready to pop a few tablets into his mouth, which should help his heart and blood-flow. "You're going to be okay. You're going to live." She said through her wide smile, lifting his head and putting a few red pills into his mouth. "It's all going to be okay."

* * *

><p><em>So... Tali's out. Which means I get a party. Nice.<em> Shepard thought, nodding his head and straitening his shirt on his body. _I suppose Joker will be here sometime soon._

Shepard was waiting outside of his house, in the front and looking around at the flowers Tali usually tended to around the house. _So pretty._ He simply thought, observing all of the marvelous work Tali did around the house. The walls were shining and perfectly clean, the stones leading to the house were perfectly straight and often dusted, and the flowers and greenery were well-kept and trimmed regularly by her.

Shepard saw a pair of sky cars enter the space around his home, most likely containing his friends who were going to stay at his place for a few hours and have a small party.

The ships circled around the house once, and landed in front of it, in Shepard's view.

From the doors of the cars, five people climbed out, two krogans in one vehicle, two humans and a turian in the other.

"Guys night out! Woo!" Joker yelled, hobbling over to Shepard at the head of the pack, with Wrex, Grunt, Garrus, and Davos behind him.

Shepard opened the door to his house, smiling at his friends as they closed in on his location.

"Good to see you, Shepard." Davos said with a kind smile, nodding and walking into Shepard's abode.

"Nice to see you again, Shepard." Garrus greeted with a quick handshake as he walked by him into the house.

"Shepard!" Wrex and Grunt's voice bellowed to John, a sharp but happy grin on their faces as they walked by him, both at the same time. They got stuck in the door, shoving against each other for a quick second before Grunt decided to back up. "Fool." Wrex remarked to Grunt, walking in and chuckling at him. Grunt followed him into the house.

"You ready for a party? I got some pretty bad-ass stuff planned." Joker said, smiling up at John.

John nodded his head quickly, and pointed in the house.

"Nice." He said with a devilish grin.

* * *

><p>The start of the party was slow at first, with Shepard and Davos being tasked with making food while the others lounged in the other room and watched television. They worked in silence for most of their job, until Davos broke it.<p>

"So, you and Tali. Things are good?" He asked, throwing a bag of dextro-levo popcorn into a microwave.

Shepard turned his head and cocked it at him, blinking slowly as he watched him start the microwave.

"Just wondering. You guys deserve each other, I merely want to make sure it's all okay." He said and stared at Shepard for a reply.

_Yeah._ Shepard responded to his first question, telling him their relationship was fine.

"Good, she's a sweet girl." He noted, rasping his shortened fingers against the counter-top by the microwave. "Don't you break her heart. If you do, I'll break your bones." Davos threatened with a joking smile.

Shepard returned the smile at his caring caution of Tali. _I won't._ Shepard mouthed to the man.

"Good." Davos opened the microwave after it dinged once. "Now, lets go watch some television." He said, nodding his head to the other room, and walking with Shepard as they both held large bowls of popcorn.

"Welcome back to Elcor Gone Wild!" A narrator's voice yelled from the TV, and a barrage of rock music started playing through the TV.

Shepard and Davos stopped in awe as they watched the four men stare at the flashing screen, watching the sex-show start.

"Sultry tone: Oh, you kinky, kinky, man." An elcor's monotone voice crept through the TV.

"Sexually enticed: Now that's what I'm talking about baby, oh yeah." Another elcor voice came through.

Shepard and Davos weren't actually sure which of the voices were of a woman's, and which was a man's. "What're you doing?" Davos asked with a smile on his face, catching the attention of the four men.

"What! Oh, oops, I thought this was the sports channel." Joker blurted out, fumbling with the remote and quickly turning it back to another channel.

Shepard and Davos shook their heads in a joking disappointment to Joker, and took their seat on the couch next to him, while Garrus, Wrex, and Grunt stood behind it and watched.

"We now return to your scheduled program, 'Krogan Hospital.'" A voice stated as a program started.

"No, this isn't sports." Joker lifted the remote to change the channel.

"Wait!" Grunt yelled, snatching the remote from Joker's hands, thankfully not breaking them in the process.

Everyone got quiet, and stared at Grunt, even Wrex didn't understand his bout of anger.

"What's up buddy?" Garrus asked, patting Grunt on the back.

"Don't you give me that! This is my favorite show! I won't let you turn it!" He yelled, throwing the remote to the floor and shattering it into thousands of little black pieces.

Shepard's mouth dropped open as his eyes rested on the biggest chunk of remote left.

"Uh... sorry." Grunt apologized, and paid his full attention to the show.

_I guess I'll just buy a new remote._ Shepard mouthed to himself, and turned back around to watch the show.

* * *

><p>After they had gotten half and hour into the show, Garrus and Joker had since dispersed to different parts of the house. Joker was apparently in the kitchen and getting more to eat, while Garrus wanted to try out some weights in Shepard's exercising room. Which left John, Davos, Wrex, and Grunt to watch Krogan Hospital.<p>

So far in the story, a krogan clan leader and his bond-mate were in the hospital for their child, who has survived the birth and ill-effects of the genophage, but has some deadly illnesses because of the bad birthing.

Wrex and Grunt were on the sides of the TV, most of the bodies blocking the view from John and Davos, but they didn't mind, it was just as good of a show to watch Wrex and Grunt whimper over the soap opera.

"No... They can't end it like that! They cant!" Grunt yelled, shaking the TV violently with his large reptile hands, until the image started to get distorted.

"You fool! You'll break it! It's not over yet!" Wrex yelled, punching Grunt and tossing him to the far side of the room.

"Sorry clan leader." Grunt spurted out and ran back to the TV.

"You guys have fun. Just try not to break anything, don't think Shepard would like that." Davos said, standing up from the couch and walking into the kitchen.

_I need to go check up on Joker and Garrus, make sure they aren't destroying my house. But, then again, these guys might total my TV. Damn it._ Shepard thought to himself, looking between the krogans and the kitchen. _Oh fine, I better go check on Joker, he's just as likely to break something as Wrex and Grunt are._

John grudgingly stood from the couch and followed Davos into the kitchen, but stopped in front of the stairwell.

"Sup, Shepard! Look what I found!" Joker yelled, holding up one of Tali's bras in his hands and waving it around.

Garrus walked around the corner and squinted his eyes to better see the bra from afar. "Hey! That's the same brand of lingerie that Lehe has." Garrus said with a smile that slowly faded as he realized what he had said.

Shepard and Joker both looked over to him, with devious grins on their faces. "How would you know." Joker said with a smile that nearly covered his whole face.

"I... uh... never mind." Garrus mumbled, walking away after the awkward silence.

"They banged." Joker whispered to Shepard.

Probably. Shepard said and nodded along with Joker, and realized why he was at first angry with Joker. He shook his head in a second shock of surprise and stomped up the stairs to him, while he shook in fright that Shepard was going to kick him down the stairs, of flatten him against them.

"Fine, I'm sorry." He threw the bra at Shepard, and laughed. "Damn. Just having a little fun."

Shepard caught it, pushing past Joker and throwing it back into his room. _How would you like it if EDI found out you're rummaging through Tali's drawers?_ Shepard asked him without speaking, smiling after he made the threat to tell on Joker.

"I'm not sure what you said... but I think I saw EDI... so I'll assume it was a threat?" He elevated his voice in a questioning tone.

Shepard nodded to him in reply.

"Oh, okay, I'll stop then." He said with a frown and sad tone.

_Good._ Shepard mouthed and walked down the stairs with Joker by his side.

They looked to the left, seeing the two krogan making crying sounds—though no tears came out—and pouring the contents of the popcorn bowls into their mouths and down their gullets.

Shepard smiled at them and shook his head, then turning to the right and seeing Davos with a carton of something pressed close to his eyes trying to read it.

Shepard decided to help Davos, walking in he held a hand out for the box when he neared him.

Davos looked up and smiled. "Dyslexia sucks. Though my dad got rid of most of it for me, sitting me down every night to help me learn the words." He noted and gave the box to him to read. "Can you believe it, they have a cure for cancer, but not dyslexia? It's crazy."

Shepard just nodded to him in agreement as he read the box.

"Feel cold in here to you?" He asked Shepard, rubbing his biceps with his arms to warm himself. "It got cold all of a sudden."

Shepard shook his head at him, and even wiped a bit of sweat from his brow.

"I thought that was uh... milk?" He asked Shepard and waited for the answer.

Shepard shook his head and smiled. _Cleaning chemicals._ Shepard mouthed to him drawing his finger across the words on the carton as he read it.

"Cleaning stuff! It's a damn good thing I didn't drink it then." He said with a laugh, taking the box and tossing it back into the drawer he found it in.

Shepard and Davos both took a seat on the stools next to the island counter in the kitchen.

Davos stared through the doorway, where the pair of krogan cried and stuffed their faces with food. Laughing at them, he watched Joker taunt Garrus about his new girlfriend, Lehe'Hoss, and Garrus stutter out a hesitant response and denial of it.

"You guys are all pretty close?" He asked Shepard who nodded and smiled at his friends.

_They're pretty great guys._ Shepard mouthed to himself.

"You think me and you can ever have adventures like you and your friends did?" Davos asked, looking over to Shepard and leaning back in his stool.

Shepard shrugged and gave Davos a smile. _Maybe. Although I don't want to deal with any more reapers._ He worded to him.

"Hmm... I think I got one more fight left in me. You ever need anything, you come hollering, and I'll be there in a second."

_Deal._ Shepard mouthed to him and held out a hand.

Davos gave him his wounded hand, his shortened fingers hardly making it to Shepard's palm when they shook hands. "Good. It's getting late, I think I'll be turning in."

"Yeah! Us too! We'll see you later, Shepard!" Joker yelled, hobbling over to the door with the aliens behind him.

"Nice spending time with you, Shepard!" Grunt yelled and flung his hand around in a wave.

Grunt smiled and Garrus waved, following Joker to their cars as they left.

"Be quick about it, Garrus! Wouldn't want Lehe to be cold and alone in bed now would you!" Joker yelled in a mocking tone to Garrus "How often do you calibrate her!" Joker yelled in the same tone and laughed after.

"Keep it up, Joker, and I'll calibrate your teeth with my fist." Garrus said back to him in a loud but calm voice, joking but threatening still.

"Ahem. Sorry." Joker said and climbed into his car.

John walked Davos out to the front door, and they watched as the others climbed in their cars and left.

Shepard tapped Davos' arm urgently. _You're not leaving with them._ Shepard said in what would have been a yell once Davos looked to him.

"Oh, don't worry, Marya is supposed to come and pick me up." He said with a smile on his face, watching Shepard's expression slowly cool as he realized he wasn't left behind.

_Scared me for a second._ Shepard said out of Davos' view as they waited for his wife to come pick him up.

"Pretty flowers." Davos noted, looking down in the dark at the flowers Tali usually tended to. "Your wife?" He asked, pointing down to them.

Shepard nodded and smiled, thinking of Tali. He remembered how she ordered him around to help her plant and take care of the things months ago, making him her private worker.

"Such a sweet girl." Davos noted, staring at the flowers along with Shepard for a while in silence. "Speak of the devil and she shall appear." Davos said and looked to the yard of Shepard's house.

Shepard looked to who he saw, seeing Tali walk from her car up to the two men, somehow not being heard when her sky car came in to land.

"We were just talking about you, all good things, don't worry." Davos said with a chuckle and nudged Shepard with his elbow.

_Glad you're back, honey._ Shepard said in the darkness, his words probably not being seen by her.

"What's wrong? You're quiet?" Davos asked her, taking a step down from the front door with Shepard.

She looked up to Davos, and Davos alone, as if Shepard wasn't even there. Her eyes sparkling with a glow, water clouding her large eyes. _Tali?_ Shepard asked quietly, waiting for her to say something.

"I was at your house." She admitted to Davos, who just nodded in return.

"Aw come on, it couldn't have looked that bad." He said in a joking tone. "Why are you crying, Missy?"

"Your dad, he..." She started, her lip quivered and her fingers fiddled with each other at a rapid pace. "He had a heart attack..."

Davos' eyes opened wide as he realized what she meant, and assumed why she was crying.

"He... He didn't make it." Tali whimpered with tears falling down her gray cheeks, her lips and chin shaking as she cried.

"My... my dad's dead?" He asked, his voice breaking as he talked.

Tali nodded to him and started to make her cries louder, whining sounds coming from her. _Tali, no._ Was all Shepard could think as he watched his wife cry. This was the most he'd ever seen her cry before. Matthos must have made a huge impact on her life that quickly that she felt so attached to him. Shepard didn't know Matthos well, but he did like him, and started to tear up with Tali, her crying being most of why he started to follow in sadness.

Davos just nodded for a while, taking in the information.

Eventually he broke down, weary breaths coming from him as he let tears fall from his old eyes. He started to stroke his beard with a hand, catching and wiping away the tears that had fallen and been caught in the hair of his face. With his lip quivering like Tali's, and raspy old breaths stuttering from him, he continued to cry.

Neither John nor Tali had seen someone as old as Davos cry the way he did, gasping for breaths in between his panting cries. His hands finding his face, he filled his palms with tears as he tried to shield himself from the couple's view.

Tali walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

He accepted it quickly, pushing his face into her shoulder and hair, crying with wheezy breaths into her comforting hug.

She patted his back as he cried, though she cried nearly as much, she couldn't understand what must be going through his head. She might have lost her father as well, but he never showed her the fatherly love that Matthos showed nearly everyone he was in contact with, so for Davos to lose a man as nice, caring, and smart as his father, after being with him for nearly fifty years, it would take a big toll on his heart.

Davos started to mutter through his raspy breaths, purely out of reminiscence of his beloved father, a line his dad recited to him to help him learn words. "Our father who art in Heaven..." Tali didn't know the words, or what they really meant, but they comforted her and him both. "Hallowed by thy name..." He continued his prayer to comfort himself. "Thy kingdom come..." Tali let out a few coughs as she cried. They were a mess of tears and sorrow. Seeing his wife like that wounded Shepard, putting a pain in his heart. "Thy will be done." Davos stopped there, mumbling a few more words that were indescribable as the darkness took him completely, to the point he just cried. Thinking on his father, and how he would never be there to console him again. Thinking that Seaworth estate would be one fewer member short, and wondering how the kids would take the loss of their grandfather.

Tali didn't understand the meaning of the 'Our Father' prayer, and thought he was referring to his actual father, Matthos. She smiled at it, thinking to herself that Matthos could be in the afterlife with her other ancestors, though Matthos wasn't related to her, she wished he was, and hoped her actual father would be there with him when her time came to live this world with Shepard by her side.

Shepard didn't bother to wonder why she was at Matthos' house, instead he watched Tali and Matthos comfort each other, as he held a half smile on his face and silently cried with them. He was glad his wife and friend couldn't see him cry, ashamed of it, and watching his wife and new friend cry together.

Death is one of the easiest things in the universe, for the participant of it alone; However, for those who said participant had loved and cared for mutually, it can't be equaled in amount of emotional devastation. So, Tali and Davos held each other for several minutes as they wept together for the man that was their father, for Davos literally, and Tali figuratively.


	16. Halloween

**Note: **So I figured a Halloween type chapter this time, just because it's October. I have stuff planned for future chapters, and by future, I mean when Tali is like near the end of her pregnancy, around 6-9 months pregnant, everything before that I'm not sure what to do... so I could do a major skip, after Shepard finds out, and go to the end of her pregnancy, or someone could slap an idea down for me to do... and I'd try it, if you wanted to. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p>The funeral was a week ago, thankfully Tali was finally starting to be Tali again, and not the moping, sad, and broken quarian that occupied their house the past days. Davos and his family weren't seen since the accident, and instead kept to their house, where Kasumi was now staying as well. She was paying heaps of cash to Davos now, and was even at his father's funeral, shedding a tear with him. She would stay at his house for the next few weeks, tend to the children until Davos and his wife could find a proper babysitter, now that Matthos was out of business. His death may have been sad, but at least he helped Tali fulfill her dream.<p>

Shepard hadn't even asked Tali why she happened to be at Davos' house when Matthos had a heart attack, but he planned on it, when she was cheered up, so he would ask at a later date, not wanting to upset her somehow.

But right now, it was Halloween on Rannoch—at least to humans it was, and some other aliens—and Shepard was going to enjoy showing Tali the joys and terrors of the human holiday.

"What's Halloween month?" Tali asked as she sat on the couch, reading the words off of the TV screen.

Shepard walked from the kitchen where he was finished cleaning the dishes, taking a seat next to her, and watching the television with her.

"It says it's supposed to be scary. Should we watch it?" Tali asked looking to Shepard.

Shepard nodded to her. _Halloween is just a day when you scare people, and get candy._

"I get candy?" Tali asked, pursing her lips in thought, and staring at the ceiling. "I suppose it's worth it then. Lets watch it. It better not be too scary." She warned, grabbing a thin cloth cover from the side of the couch, throwing it on top of herself and Shepard.

_You'll be fine._ Shepard comforted her, rubbing and squeezing her shoulder with a hand, in a loving and caring touch.

"Maybe we should watch it tomorrow. It's pretty dark outside right now... I think it'd be extra scary to watch it now."

_That's the point to being scared, the darker the better._ Shepard lipped to her, smiling afterward.

"I don't know... but if you insist." She tucked her legs under and to the side of her, leaning into Shepard's body, and holding his arm as the movie started.

Words appeared on the screen, words made of a grainy tan material, showing the word 'Mr. Sandman.'

"Mr. Sandman doesn't sound scary." Tali ensured, loosening her grip of Shepard's arm.

The words slowly disintegrated, falling apart with the grain rolling off of the screen and out of sight. Once they had completely vanished, a dark hallway was seen behind their earlier location.

Several doors lining the hallway, but only one was open, only one shown light into the dark mysterious cavern, and only one where you're eyes were drawn to.

"Pfft... I've seen scarier." Tali rolled her eyes.

Music started up, crackly and broken sounding music, as if it were playing from an old music box. Slow playing music, with a faint static sound playing steady and eerily while the lyrics started. "Bum, bum, -um, b-m, b-, bum, b-m, -m, bum, b-m, bum, bum, b-." Static broke the words, and they repeated a second time.

Tali shriveled up, pushing herself closer into John, tightening her grip around his arm.

"Mr. Sandman... bring me a dr-m make him the cu-t tha- I've ev-r seen." The words of female humans sang, and through it Tali heard something else, a deep and throaty laugh.

"Eek!" Tali shrieked, pushing her face into Shepard's arm, closing her eyes tight.

_Come on, you have to watch._ Shepard mouthed out of her view, tapping her shoulder with his hand to make her watch.

She turned grudgingly, and listened to the rest of the creepy song.

"Give hi- two li- like roses and cl-r. Then -ell him that his lonesome nights are ov-." The rest cut out, and it went to complete static, no words or sense of security when the song ended. Now just a cracking and scratchy sound coming from the door, and now rustling, as if an animal were inside and trying to escape a box. Shaking and breaking sounds through the barrier to the other room, until it stopped, and now a light echoing footstep came to ears.

"I don't like this." Tali whined, squinting her eyes as she prepared to dart back into the covers to hide from the TV.

From where the light shined, less light came through, with a blackened shadow of a figure occupying the center of the door.

Tali started making crying sounds, and pulled the cloth cover over half of her eyes, peaking over the top at the screen.

The figure was incomplete, with a missing forearm, half of it's head missing, several holes in it's torso, and a gouge taken from it's thigh. It lightly twitched, just enough to be seen through the shadow.

It started to moan a ghastly sound, and it's joints and appendages bent and folded over in inhuman ways and robotic shapes. The constant flow and circulation of it's arms and twisting of it's head horrified Tali, until she couldn't take it. "You're not perfect." A echoing voice stated from the room, most likely being the monster's voice.

She pulled the light cloth over her head, but could still see through it to the screen. She didn't want to look, but then again she did, she had to know what the figure was. The not knowing was the worst, all she wanted to do was see the monster, and then she could close her eyes. It didn't reveal itself, instead it continued the watery smooth movements of it's broken body.

It groaned again, a demon-like sound, near the range of an engine starting up in the distance, and a feral beast growling.

It's body slowly came to a stop, ending it's act of contorting and distorting into odd shapes.

Tali stopped her whining, watching to see what happened next. Shepard on the other hand just smiled, knowing that this would be the time for a jump-scare.

The door which gave light to the hall slammed shut, engulfing the hallway in a blackness, and silencing the moaning and static from the other room.

Tali jumped at first, but then calmed, and gave a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over." She said with a light giggle.

Right when Tali thought it was safe, the door whipped open, light covering the same rectangular area in the hall it covered before. There was no shape in the door this time, rather the figure was standing in the middle of the hall.

Tali squeaked and dug her head into Shepard again, crying into his body.

The shape on the screen moaned through it's words. "Return your dreams... return your dreams... it is mine... give it back." It's arms gyrated, it's legs kicked and ticked, while it's head bent and drooped in different angles around it's wobbly neck. It had sharp yellow teeth, and brown glazed eyes. The rest of it's body was made with sand, small grains fell oft time from it's body, making a small pile around it on the floor. "Return your dream." It commanded again, though it's lips or teeth didn't move to make the sound, instead it sounded like it came from a different source.

Tali had enough, and cried for Shepard to end it. "Shut it off! Keelah! Shut it off, Shepard!"

He obliged, having tortured her enough, he turned it off.

"It's not funny!" She yelled at him when she saw his face, the corners of his lips tilted upward in a smirk. "I'm going to have nightmares now, Shepard." She grunted as she got up, throwing the sheet she was wrapped up in to the floor. She stormed off, going to hide in their bedroom most likely.

She came to a halt by the front door, stopping with her foot in the air as she was about to climb the steps. "Did you hear that?" She asked in a whisper.

He shook his head, standing up and walking over to her, still holding the smile on his face.

"I heard something." She whispered again, turning around to face the entrance to their house.

The laughter of children came through the door, hushed giggles and quiet talking.

"Keelah. It's the Sandman." She was froze in her position, staring at the door and waiting for something. "Did you see that?" She asked Shepard, pointing to the blurred window next to their door.

He squinted at the dark outside, and shook his head. _Nope, nothing._

"They're monsters out there." She started backing up, without looking, she climbed the stairs slowly. "I'm going to go get my shotgun."

Shepard realized what it was she heard and saw. _Oh, must be trick-or-treaters. Just little kids in costumes._ He mouthed to himself, and registered Tali's last words. _Shotgun?_

Tali was tip-toeing up the stairs, still staring at the door.

The doorbell sounded, with a faint light above the entrance. _Wait. _Shepard mouthed to his wife, holding out a hand to stop her from running to her gun.

He turned and moved to open the door. Tali squealed behind him, her hands covering her mouth in fright. "Don't." She pleaded, running down the stairs to him.

He had already opened the door, and was greeted with four small children, holding out their hands for candy. "Trick-or-treat!" They chanted together.

They all wore different costumes, completely covering their bodies with the exception of eyes and mouth holes. Each was a different animal, and all were quarian. There was a quarian boy in a pyjak costume; a quarian girl wearing a varren suit; another boy in a cat costume; and a third boy in a space beetle costume. Each of them having red glowing eyes.

"Shepard, what do they want?" Tali said in a hushed whisper to her husband, hiding behind his body, and peaking over his shoulder.

_Candy._ Shepard mouthed to her.

"We want candy!" The kids yelled in response to Tali.

"Fine! Take it all!" She yelled to them, running into the kitchen, swiping a bowl of varied candies and chocolates. She ran back to the door, and splashed the kids with the snacks, smashing into their faces and falling to the ground.

They screamed and dropped to the floor in laughter, picking up the pieces and stuffing them into bags.

"Begone monsters!" Tali yelled, slamming the door on them. She dusted her hands off in pride, having just saved the day, or so she thought. "You're welcome." She said, pointing a finger at Shepard and squinting her eyes at him. "Now, it's getting late, I'd like to go to bed now."

Shepard nodded to her, and pointed up the stairs. _Sure thing, I'll be up in a little while, just gonna get something to eat._

She shivered and replied. "I'd like you to come with me... just because... I like your company." She said with a faint smile.

_You're scared._ He corrected her and smiled.

"Okay! I'm scared, now hurry up." She took his hand and lead him upstairs to their bed. "I'm going to get you back for scaring me, I promise you that, you bosh'tet."

* * *

><p>Shepard felt he was awake, smelling a morning air in his bedroom, through the open window. He tightened his eyes, and opened them in a blinking flash.<p>

It was still dark in his room, the morning light from Tikkun was nowhere near as bright as Earth's sun, making it look nearly night still.

He noticed one thing odd in his room as he stared at the ceiling, he had closed the window when he went to bed, why was it opened?

He leaned up from the bed, looking down and to his right at Tali, who was laying next to him and fully covered, motionless as she slept.

In the darkness of his room, he squinted at the window, a light breeze blowing the curtains around aimlessly.

Another something caught his attention, something next to the window, in a chair. A slender person wrapped in a sheet sat on the chair, slowly rocking back and forth, creaking the old wood to the chair. _I didn't even know we had a rocking chair._ Were Shepard's first thoughts—oddly—and the next were more rational. _Wait a minute, what the hell. _He stared for a second at the chair and it's ghostly occupant, and realized what was happening. _Oh... That's right, Tali wanted to get me back for scaring her. _He thought with a smile. _Nice try, Tali._

He looked down to the covered form on his bed, imagining when he opened it that it would be stuffed with pillows, instead of Tali.

He smiled as he ripped the covers off of it, listening to the chair continue it's creaking sound and mostly ignoring it. _Probably the wind._

He didn't find an assortment of pillows to mimic Tali's body, instead he found Tali herself. She laid there peacefully, breathing so slowly and quietly it looked like she wasn't breathing. _Wait, is she breathing?_ Shepard thought, tapping her shoulder quickly.

He looked back to the chair, it's forward and backward motion sped up, creaking louder and louder.

He shivered with that, and looked back to Tali, tapping her shoulder faster and harder. He imagined he was dreaming, and that it would all end soon, but nonetheless he tried to wake his wife.

He finally gripped her shoulder, pulling her to view her face. He kicked off of the bed after he took in what he saw. Her face was bloodied, claw marks raking her cheeks, blood seeping from the cuts. Her throat was slashed several times, folds of serrated and scarred skin leaking blood. Her face sopping with red sticky fluid, he rolled off the bed, mostly sure it was all a dream he was having and that it would be over soon.

The chair stopped moving, and the sheet fell from the figure, revealing emptiness in the chair. The windows slammed shut, rattling and shaking against their port and frame.

The same music from the movie they watched started to play, with the same creepy static sound.

Shepard wasn't sure how to react now. There was no way this was real, no way some ghost actually made it into their house, killed Tali, and knew to play that same song as in the movie. This had to be a nightmare.

From the light in the bathroom, with the door closed, he saw the shadow of feet standing on the other side of the barrier.

The door slowly creaked open, revealing a quarian woman. _Tali?_ Shepard thought, noticing the purple cloth around the suited quarian. _It can't be. This is all a dream._ He noticed the size of the quarian, it wasn't as tall as Tali was, and didn't have her hips, or most of her shape.

"Tali was never real, Shepard. She was all a dream, this entire time... and now I've come to take her back." The quarian in the door said, in a mousy voice.

_No, that's a lie, I know she's real. This is all a dream, I'll wake up, and Tali will be trying to coax me into either sex or an adventure of some kind. I know it._ He thought to himself, backing up into the corner of the room, and waiting on his body to wake itself.

Shepard held his eyes closed tight, wishing and waiting for this dream to be over.

With his eyes closed, he heard another person enter the room, and speak up. "You guys done messing with Shepard yet?"

John opened his eyes, looking at Garrus, who was chewing on a dextro snack and looking around the room.

The Tali-impersonator looked at Garrus, and slapped her hands against his chest. "Damn it, Garrus! We were about to make him piss himself!"

"Should have figured Garrus would be the one to ruin it." A light sounding female voice said from the chair, and her form appeared slowly, Kasumi's form.

"How was I supposed to know?" Garrus asked in his defense, shrugging his shoulders as the woman clothed in purple smacked her hands against his chest. "Stop it, Lehe." He commanded her.

"You okay, John?" Tali asked, the blood still dripping from her face as she smiled at him, leaning over the bed and looking down at his balled up self on the floor in the corner of the room.

_What the hell is going on?_ John asked, looking between the four people in the room with him.

"I told you I'd scare you." Tali said with an devious smile. "That's for being a stupid bosh'tet." She said, standing up from the bed, and touching her bleeding face.

_Your... your face. _Shepard said pointing to the cuts around her face.

"Oh this... pretty good right?" Tali said, rubbing at it with her fingers. "Lehe did it for me." Tali said, pointing to the girl clothed in purple. _Garrus' new girlfriend, and the makeup artist from the movie, Fleet and Flotilla Three. _Shepard thought, now understanding why she didn't look like Tali, despite wearing her envirosuit.

"I'm going to go wash it off." Tali stated, walking to the bathroom door, and closing it behind her.

_And, Kasumi cloaked herself to pose as a ghost._ Shepard rationalized the last piece to the living nightmare he just suffered. _Damn, Tali's in big trouble when she gets out of the bathroom._ Shepard thought, gritting his teeth at his wife. _But... at least she's alive. I don't know what I would have done if that was all real._

"Come on you big bosh'tet. We're leaving." Lehe said, pushing Garrus out of the door, and walking downstairs with him. "Nice scaring the piss out of you, Shepard! See you later!" Lehe yelled to him, giggling with Garrus as they left the house.

"I better go too." Kasumi said, picking up the sheet she had herself wrapped up in from earlier and tossing it onto Shepard's bed. "Go easy on Tali when she comes out." Kasumi said with a wink to Shepard. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to scare _the _Commander Shepard when she called me, it was too tempting an offer. Goodbye Shepard." Kasumi said with a smile and nod, walking out of his bedroom, and down the stairs.

He heard the front door shut, leaving him and Tali alone in their house now.

He shook his head at the bathroom door, hearing Tali turn on the shower. He turned off the creepy music that came from a radio inside. Shepard rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, opening the shower door to join Tali inside. Kicking off his boxers, and tossing them next to the pile of her own clothes.

The blood and makeup on her face was washed off, no hideous cuts covering her beautiful face now. "How's it going?" She giggled to him as they were covered in the raining warm water from the shower head, tracing his hands over her slippery wet body, and planting a kiss on her wet lips. "If I knew this was how you'd react to being scared, I'd have done it a long time ago." She said after she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

_How could I be so stupid?_ He thought to himself, holding Tali close, glad she was okay, and for a moment, just holding her tight, no sexual cause to his love, he was just happy she was alright. _Demons don't exist. _He thought as he kissed everywhere around her face, their bodies both wet and warm together, no longer talking, instead they held and kissed one another.

In the bedroom, outside from where Tali moaned and cooed with Shepard's touch, it was calm and quiet. The bed was stained with a fake blood, but that could be easily washed out.

The door to their bedroom was left agape, but slowly drew to a close, and locked into it's frame with a clicking sound. Maybe their house was tilted a bit, and gravity did it's work.

At a low volume, the radio picked up again, playing the same song as in the movie, in the bedroom, in the range of neither Tali nor John's ears. Probably radio waves being messed up.

And the rocking chair continued it's slow and creaking movements on it's own, gliding back and forth. Probably from the wind... but... the windows and doors were all closed...

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>No their house isn't haunted... that was just me trying to scare you into thinking it... but to clear things up before you freak out, the chair rocking on it's own, door closing, and music starting was just a joke, and won't be mentioned again. So, like I said, running short of ideas, so any ideas you may have I'll take.


End file.
